


The Handmaiden's Diary (KHR Fan-Fiction)

by arxanna



Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: F/M, Reader-Insert, Sequel, may contain grammar errors, one of my early works
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-11
Updated: 2020-04-03
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:28:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 47
Words: 98,611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22667026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arxanna/pseuds/arxanna
Summary: ║𝑯𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒎𝒂𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏:  𝑎 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑚𝑎𝑖𝑑 𝑜𝑟 𝑓𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑒 𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑛𝑡.║A girl was reincarnated from her previous life. She started her new life in Namimori Middle School and she thought it was a good start until she met the Head of Disciplinary Committee, Hibari Kyoya. Since then, she became his handmaiden.To her, it was a stroke of bad luck.To the two souls from the previous life, they were finally reunited. Just like a pair of fragile butterfly wings.( Hibari Kyoya x [Reader] )*Sequel to Papillon*KHR belongs to Amano Akira*Pictures are not mine unless stated
Kudos: 18





	1. unexpected

I do not remember my childhood years. I admitted that I was quite a forgetful person and not everyone like it at all. It was not like I asked for this to happen.

I moved into the Namimori district about three months ago. My parents told me that I once came here to visit my grandmother. After my grandmother's passing, we rarely came back here again until my parents decided to move into this district. My father's new job was the real reason why we came to Namimori. We lived in a simple-looking two-storey apartment, which fit for a small family like us.

I was only twelve when my parents once told me that I was not their real child.

I was adopted but they loved me as their child.

They did not tell me until I was ready to accept the truth. They wanted to have a child but it was never a success. Adopting me was the only choice they had because they loved children.

At least I was happy to have loving parents like them.

"[Name]! You're going to be late for your school!"

I heard my mother calling out for me, so I hastily put on my black skirt, white dress shirt, red ribbon and the yellow blazer as quickly as I could. I immediately went out of my room, grabbed a piece of toast before I said goodbye to my parents.

It was already morning and more students with the same uniform as mine were running. They seemed to look scared or nervous when they were late for school. I wonder why.

I was about to step into the school area when I saw a group of prefects in black uniforms, attached with the arm-band were crowding at the gate to catch the late students. It was the prefect's job to catch the late students but their large gangster hairstyle was the one that caught my surprise. I almost thought that they were loan sharks and I also thought that I was in a wrong school.

I could not let myself be caught for my lateness on my first day of school. I decided to sneak into the school secretly by climbing the school wall. I went into a bushy tree carefully and I look below to see how high was the tree to the ground. 

Instead, I saw a male student sleeping under the tree where I was. He had short black hair and his uniform was the same as those scary-looking prefects. He was sleeping peacefully in the morning at this time. Was he even allowed to sleep when the class was about to start?

For some reason, I felt like I had seen him before.

My thoughts were snapped when the tree branch I sat on was breaking apart. I fell from the tree while screaming with fear. I closed my eyes tightly and expecting that I would be landing on the ground with a loud thud.

However, I found myself landed onto the male student I had seen earlier. He had woken up and he was staring at me with a cold glare from his dark, grey eyes. I quickly scooted away from him nervously as he stood up. He was slowly walking towards me and that was when I saw his armband from his black coat written as the Head of Disciplinary Committee.

I was so dead.

"The school gate is over there. Why are you here, herbivore?" he asked coldly.

"I-I'm new here...I'm not sure w-where to go..." I stuttered as I stared at him.

"As if I can accept that answer. Are you trying to escape from being caught for coming late to school?"

"Well, I am-" I gasped with horror for blurting out my honest answer. The fate could be so cruel when I saw his lips curved into an evil smirk. He took out his steel tonfas and he was ready to beat the sh*t out of me.

"For breaking the school law and disturbing my sleep, I'll bite you to death."

"W-wait a minute!!"

I screeched and I told him to stop. He just charged towards me and tried hitting straight to my head. I quickly dodged his sudden wild attack and I sped up towards the school entrance as quickly as I could. To my horror, he was chasing me from behind, like a tiger who had found its prey.

He was way too scary! Why would this school had a student like him?? Especially that he was the 'Head Prefect'?!

Without thinking, I ran into the toilet and hid, holding my breath nervously. I could hear his footsteps from outside before he walked away from the place I was hiding. I waited for a few minutes before I could leave. I had an awkward moment when the school principal happened to pass by. He said that he had been waiting for me so that he could bring me to my supposed class and introduced me to the students.

The students did not give any reaction as if their class got used to having new students. Some started to become friends with me, especially a baseball star named Yamamoto Takeshi. He was the first to welcome me to this school.

"Yo, welcome to Namimori Middle school. I'm Yamamoto Takeshi."

"Thanks, my name is [Full Name]. Nice to meet you."

I smiled and we shook hands as a form of greeting. He looked like a nice guy to me, unlike that student I met earlier.

* * *

"The moment you've entered the class, you look like you're being chased by someone scary. Is there anything happen?" a dark-haired girl named Kurokawa Hana asked with her puzzled look.

"Well, I did being chased by someone scary in this school. I was late for school, so I sneaked into the school by climbing the wall and into the tree. I fall straight onto someone who happens to be the Head of Disciplinary Committee," I explained.

Hana and a girl with short caramel hair named Sasagawa Kyoko look at me with their horrified look when I mentioned that certain student. I raised my eyebrow curiously before Kyoko asked me with her shocked look.

"Did you say...you fall straight on the 'head prefect'?"

"Yeah, why about it? Is he someone that you should not mess up with?"

"Hibari Kyoya is someone that you SHOULD not mess up with. Students here are very afraid of him, even the teachers and people of this district. If you ever crowding, talk bad about him, making noises or even trying to vandalise the school, he will...bite you to death," whispered Hana with her serious tone.

"O-oh...he...he did say that word to me when he found out that I was late to school..." my smile twitched nervously.

"Then you're most likely to be his target. No one could escape from him, the prefects here obey his commands," added Kyoko with worry.

I had run into someone scary, right on my first day of school.

I wished that I could talk to my parents to transfer me to another school but they could not do so and I would miss a lot of things. I had not been to school for three months because we were busy moving to a new district.

Since everyone was afraid of this head prefect named Hibari Kyoya, who the hell I would ask to help or protect me? I was overthinking until I did not realise that it was almost late evening.

I made my way home while looking at the evening sky. I began to wonder if my father would come home early when I heard someone calling my name. I turned around to see a student with brunette hair and he was holding something in his hand as he panted.

"[Name], thank goodness. You've dropped your wallet on the school grounds."

"Thanks!" I smiled with relief as I took my wallet from his hand. "Uh, may I know what's your name?"

"Oh, I'm Sawada Tsunayoshi. Just call me Tsuna," he introduced himself as he held out his hand.

"Hi, nice to meet you, Tsuna. I'm [Full Name]," I replied as I shook his hand. "I didn't realise that we are in the same class. I need to know more about my classmates next time."

"You don't have to be in the rush, [Name]. Just take your own time. If you ever need help, I'll give you a hand."

"Well, thanks! I'll just need to-" I stopped speaking when I saw someone behind Tsuna from far.

My eyes widened in shock and I was shivering at the same time. It was that head prefect of Namimori Middle school. It seemed that he could not forget what happened that morning because he was now looking at me.

"What happened, [Name]?" asked Tsuna with his puzzled look.

"Tsuna, I'll see you again tomorrow, I'll be off now!" I sped off as quick as I could before I even bother to hear Tsuna's reply. This was bad, I did not even know where to hide while I kept on running every part of the alleyway.

All of a sudden, I tripped onto the ground. My knees were badly bruised and I chose to ignore the pain I had to endure. I was about to stand up when a hand suddenly slammed against the wall, just a few inches beside my face. I shut my eyes tightly with fear. 

He was still after me. Hana was right. Once we did wrong, no one could escape from the head prefect's wrath.

"So, we meet again, herbivore."

"I-I'm s-sorry, Hibari-san..."

His dangerous tone made me shiver. I could not believe that I call by his name, that was after Hana told me his name earlier.

"Strange, I thought you would call by my first name."

"H-huh? What do you mean?"

"Forget it. Now, what shall I do to a student who breaks the school law? Detention class? Or my punching bag?"

"P-punching bag? Who the hell wants to be your punching bag?!"

With a glare from his eyes, I immediately went silent and I lowered my head to avoid his killer stare.

"[Full Name]. Thirteen years old. Currently staying at the apartment with parents. Transferred to Namimori Middle school after moving into a new district. Has good achievement in the cooking tournament," Hibari mentioned every detail about myself and once again, he gave that scary smirk. "Interesting..."

"I-I don't get it. Why would you want to know so much about me??" I asked nervously.

"I am planning to bite you to death for coming late to school and fall onto me in sudden. But, I think of a better punishment," the skylark went even nearer to me before he talked again. "This, you will not refuse, [Full Name]. Accept it, or you will get something worse than my bite."

"I-I just can't agree with this crap!" I snapped. "You can't force me to do something that you want me to do just because you're the Head Prefect or whatever you are!"

I tried to be braver to go against him. I just wanted to protect myself from a bully. What I did not realise that I should not shout, or yell at him. He was giving his dissatisfied look as he pinned me against the wall and gripping my shoulders tightly. I almost could not breathe well when he did it to me.

"Like it or not, you cannot refuse or I shall make your life like a living hell. Do you have any idea what have you done to me after falling onto me from the tree you climbed on?"

"What...what did I do??"

"Don't expect me to answer. Try to recall your memory."

Was it that important that he forced me to remember what I did that morning?? I blinked my eyes hard and I recall that incident.

I climbed over the wall, then to the tree. I stared at the sleeping head prefect from below and the tree branch snapped apart.

I fell onto him and-

My eyes widened in horror. I quickly covered my mouth with my hands. My face got even redder than my ribbon. 

I not only accidentally fall onto him. I realised that I accidentally kissed him?!

"You finally remembered, herbivore?" the head prefect narrowed his grey eyes.

"Gyahh! I-I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to do that! It was an accident!" I shook my head profusely. I wanted to transfer to another school. It was too late for me to do so. It was really scary and embarrassing!

"If you don't want anyone to know about this, then you must follow my orders from now on."

"Y-yes, Hibari-san. W-what you want me to do?"

He lowered his head to my ears and he whispered so that I was the only one could hear what he said.

That moment when he told me what I should do for him, that was how my life had started to change. Forever.

"Be my handmaiden, [Full Name]."


	2. care

"[Name], are you alright? You looked quite alarmed that day. Is someone is after you?"

I wanted to answer that I was not alright at all.

I was being chased by that skylark named Hibari Kyoya and I was told to be his handmaiden or he would spread that embarrassing secret for everyone to hear. Ever since that day, I had been busier by keeping his house clean and preparing meals for him. I had to tell everyone that I recently found a new part-time job and I would do it right after school hours. 

None of my friends knew that I was 'working' for that demonic head prefect.

"Oh, you don't have to worry about it, Tsuna," I answered while smiling at the brunette. "I-I was in a rush to go home, I don't want to worry my parents for my lateness."

"Hmph, you better answer honestly. I would have blasted you off if you mess up with the Tenth," the guy with silver hair named Gokudera Hayato replied with his arrogant look. I shot my annoyed look at him.

"The hell? Is that a proper way to talk to a girl, you jerk?! And what is that nickname you gave to Tsuna??"

"You idiot! That is not a nickname, it's a sense of respect!" the silver-haired retorted back as well. I was about to respond back until Tsuna stopped us from arguing further.

"Hold on now, both of you. Let us forget about it. Gokudera, you should be nice to [Name]. She's new here and we need to help her if she needs anything."

"Hey, I'm fine here-"

"No, I'll help you out if you ever need something. That's what friends do, right?"

I never had friends back then because I did not trust any of them. I only realised that they were either pitying me or using me for their benefit when I was thirteen. Things had changed as soon I came to Namimori Middle school and I already had friends who cared about me.

Coming to this school was just worth it but I end up as someone's 'prisoner'.

* * *

"Hey there, miss. Looks like you have that lunch box with you. Care to share those with us?"

Could anything be worse other than confronting the school bullies who wanted to steal the lunch box that was meant for Hibari? I nearly late to school just to prepare all these lunch boxes. Or more like I woke up late and I hastily did all the housekeeping works before I started to cook for lunch break at school. It made me much more tired before I could even sit down in my class. How would I deal with these bullies in front of me?

"N-no. I'm not going to share it. I need to give it to someone..." I answered with my low tone.

"Who are you giving it to? Your boyfriend?" one of them sneered with amusement. "He must be really lucky to have someone like you preparing some meals for him."

I grew more annoyed and I had the urge to punch that guy. Seriously, who on earth wanted to take Hibari as their boyfriend?! I would think of that but the light blush on my cheeks was telling me otherwise. I shook my head hard and I retorted at them.

"None of your business, and out of my way, I'm freaking late here!!"

They were still blocking my way out and tried to snatch the lunch box from my hands. I quickly dodged and I was beaten as well. I used my arms to shield myself from their attacks and I managed to sneak out from them before I ran into the toilet. I tidied up and hide some bruises. No one noticed that I was hurt although I was secretly flinching with pain during the whole class lessons.

I went straight to the Disciplinary Office during lunchtime while bringing along the lunch box. Just when I was about to knock the door, I heard Tsuna's loud aggressive voice. I blinked with shock and I could hear what he was talking from inside.

"I'm going to beat you with my dying will!!"

Was that Tsuna? He sounded angry and he was beating someone inside. I could not believe that I would be worried but was Hibari in this room as well? I placed the lunch box aside and I went on to open the door. To my horror, an infant with a black fedora hat and suit was holding a stick of dynamite with his little hand.

Why was that infant holding that such dangerous item to school??

The skylark turned around and he noticed my sudden presence. His eyes widened in shock and before I could do anything, he dragged me out from the room before the room exploded with a loud explosive sound. Hibari hugged me more tightly to avoid anything hit me and I was completely stunned by his sudden actions. 

That was because someone like him did not care for anyone aside from his beloved school and the district. I often got a hit on my head for any single mistakes I made. However, he was quite alarmed when I got into a dangerous situation. It felt like he was trying to make sure I would not get hurt. Was he protecting me?

"Why are you here, herbivore?"

I blinked and I looked up at him with my curious look. He just remained emotionless.

"Why am I here? You told me to come over here during lunchtime," I sighed and I handed over his lunch box to him. "I bring along your lunch box."

Hibari was still staring at me and he gripped my arm in sudden as I yelped in pain.

"You're hurt, right?"

"I-I'm not..." I answered while avoiding his gaze.

"Your cheek hurts too. There's no use hiding your bruises."

"I...fell at the road, that's all."

"That doesn't sound like it. What exactly had happened to you?"

"It's nothing, Hibari-san. I'm just being clumsy and careless as usual," I just gave a small smile to him. "I need to be off for my next lesson."

I walked off from the corridor rather quickly. I was confused. Why he seemed to care so much about me when he was just 'hiring' me? I honestly felt like I was much safer with him especially after that explosion. He knew that I was hurt when everyone failed to notice the bruises I was hiding from them.

I eventually have forgotten to ask Tsuna of why he was in the Disciplinary Office and the mysterious infant I had seen from that room.

* * *

The next morning, I saw Tsuna, Kyoko and another older student in front of the school gate. What surprised me was that I saw Tsuna came to school with only boxers. Why on freaking earth did he dress up like that to school? Hibari would bite him to death for not wearing appropriately to school. Tsuna and Kyoko noticed my presence and they greeted me.

"Tsuna, why are you coming to school with only...boxers?"

"N-no, it's not like that!" the brunette's face turned completely red and he was trying to prove that he was not that kind of a pervert. "Please believe me, [Name]. I'm not going to do anything weird or something."

I was giving a small grin to the brunette and I told him that I was not thinking something bad about him. Not long after that, he also told me that Kyoko's older brother (Sasagawa Ryohei) had been persuading him to join the boxing club just because he had the extreme stamina of a boxer.

"Why don't you tell him that you don't want to join?"

"I did, but he wouldn't listen. He still insists me to join his club," Tsuna explained with his glum look.

"You never know if you didn't try, maybe it'll work that way," I suggested when suddenly the infant with a black suit appeared in front of Tsuna.

My eyes widened with great surprise. It was that same infant who bombed the Disciplinary Office that day.

"[Name] got the point. You should go and tell him that you are not going to join."

"Reborn! Don't just pop out here for no reason!" retorted Tsuna.

"Why not? As your home tutor, I should monitor on my student's whereabouts," the infant explained.

"There's no reason for you to monitor me all the time," Tsuna added as he sighed heavily.

"Tsuna, you know this baby? Is he your little brother?" I slowly asked with my confused look.

"Oh, he's not my brother. He's-"

"I am his home tutor, Reborn," the infant looked at me and held out his hand for me to shake. "You must be in shock when you saw me holding that dynamite stick, right?"

"W-who would not be alarmed? Anyone could get hurt!" I replied hotly.

"You'll soon get used seeing these things. It is a part of Tsuna's training after all," Reborn gave a childish smirk that matched his large black eyes. He turned to look at Tsuna. "Anyway, you might as well need to see him after school hours. He is eligible enough to join the family as well."

"Wait, don't tell me you are going to involve him as well into your _game_??"

"[Name], are you going to come along to see how is Tsuna going to talk to Kyoko's brother?" Reborn asked while ignoring Tsuna's question ("Stop avoiding my question!").

"Um, I don't think I can. I need to do other work as well. Sorry, but thanks."

I was done with my homework and I still had some free time before I head back to Hibari's house for housekeeping. Maybe I could spend some little time to see how was Tsuna doing, so I went straight to the boxing club's room. 

As soon as I was about to go inside that room, I got myself being surrounded by the same bullies I had encountered days ago. Guess they were not satisfied after failing to steal the lunch box from me. They were coming with someone new to me.

"Hey, missy. You're the one who refused to give your lunch box to my henchmen, right?" the leader of the bullies asked with a sickening smirk.

"It doesn't belong to any of you, so why should I give it to all of you?" I replied bluntly and they were not amused by my answer.

"We want it and we are expecting you to give it to us when we asked for it," asked the other bully with his angry tone.

"Can't you just make some or buy some food for yourselves? Or is it because you can't afford it?"

"Why you, b*tch!!" the leader was enraged and he hit me with a wooden plank. I used both of my arms to protect my head and I yelped in pain. More of them were kicking me as I fell to the ground. Before the leader was going to hit me again, someone came in front of me and harshly punched that leader within milliseconds. I slowly looked up and Hibari was already standing in front of me, glaring at the bullies.

"So, you were the ones who tried to steal my lunch box and hurt my handmaiden," Hibari spoke out coldly and he took out his steel tonfas. "Unforgivable..."

"Y-your lunch box??" the leader was trembling to see the skylark's murderous look but he tried to act like he was tough.

"Wait, leader! That's Hibari Kyoya, the Head of Disciplinary Committee!" said one of the bullies and they were all trembling with fear to see his presence.

The rumour was true after all. Almost everyone was afraid of him. Whoever tried to mess up with him will be bitten to death. It was too late for them to run away as Hibari got into his stance and was ready to catch his pitiful preys.

"I'll bite all of you to death."

* * *

"Please, I can do it on my own."

Hibari ignored my words as he went on to tend my wounds. He would not let me deal with my wounds and when he started to rub my injuries with medicine, I yelled with pain.

"Stop squirming and be quiet," said Hibari bluntly, continuing to rub my arm harshly.

"Easier said than done!" I retorted with my pained look.

"Why you didn't tell me that you've been recently harassed by those bullies?"

"I-I thought I should be minding my own business. It's not like you care about it-"

"I do care, herbivore," the skylark was staring intently at my eyes. I went silent as I noticed his sudden look. "You often got yourself hurt. Just like last time."

"Last time? What are you trying to say?" I looked even quite confused.

"It's nothing," Hibari stood up from the couch and placing the first aid kit back into the drawers. "If you still want to do the housekeeping work at my house, don't overdo it. Or you may just return home and get some rest."

He left the Reception Room to do his school-patrolling as usual. Or maybe he would be sleeping on the rooftop. I turned to look at my bruised arm that Hibari tended earlier. 

He reminded me of someone...but who?


	3. sick

_"Hey, [Name], a-are you sure you alright??"_

_"Yes! I'm fine! See how I beat those bad guys! Now they won't hurt you again!"_

_"But, you're hurt as well."_

_"Ah, never mind about that, it 's not that hurt. I want to make sure that no one would ever lay their hands on you!"_

_"E-even so, I don't want you to get hurt as well."_

_"....-kun..."_

_"I promise that I'll be strong, to protect you from any harm. You've been protecting me for so long, this time...I'll do the same, [Name]."_

I had no idea how long I had been sleeping and dreaming of these things in my head. It was my childhood memories all over again and I could not remember that boy's name. For some reason, he was an important person to me. The problem was that I really could not remember anything about that.

I felt like my side was being poked harshly while I was sleeping. I groggily opened my eyes and to my deep shock, Hibari Kyoya was sitting on the chair, facing me and it appeared that he was the one who poked me just now!

Who else if it was not him??

"H-Hibari-san?? W-why are you here in my room??" I asked wildly.

"You finally awake? You are such a heavy sleeper," Hibari remained emotionless as he spoke.

"Okay? Who permits you to come into my room anyway??" I asked again, rather in mixed reaction and I could feel that my face was blushing with embarrassment.

"I tell your mother that I'm your _boyfriend_ , so she gladly let me in."

Did he just told my mother that he was my _boyfriend_?? 

I quickly jumped out from my bed, dashed out and went straight to the kitchen where I could see my mother preparing some breakfast.

"Mum! W-why mum let that guy go into my room??"

"Ah, you fussed because of that? He told me that he's your boyfriend and he wanted to ask you to go out on a date," my mother gave a slight grin to me. "[Name], you didn't tell me that you already had a cute and cool boyfriend from your school. He is so polite. You really should not let go of this guy."

"M-mum! Hibari-san is not...is not my boyfriend! He's just-!" I could not explain how it was supposed to be.

"Your face is now blushing red, you just don't want to admit it. [Name], you better hurry. It's not good to have him waiting for you."

I was about to argue when that demonic skylark wrapped around my neck with his arm as he whispered in my ear.

"You heard your mother, right? Let us not be late for our _date_."

In the end, I quickly dressed up neatly and taking a piece of toast as my breakfast before exiting from my apartment. My eyes widened in shock to see a motorcycle just in front of me and surprisingly, the one who rode it was none other than Hibari.

"Hibari-san, exactly what you want me to do? I want to think that the _date_ is not the reason you ask me to come here," I asked curiously.

"Looks like you're getting smarter, herbivore," a small grin formed on his lips. "I need you for an emergency."

"W-what emergency? I thought you had given me a day to rest and now you want me to do something again?" I protested with annoyance and I earned a hit from him before he went on to sit on his motorcycle.

"Stop complaining and sit behind me right now, we do not have much time left," he passed the helmet to me. I was hesitating for a second and I slowly sat behind him on his motorcycle, feeling awkward at the same time.

"Put your arms around my waist."

"Huh??"

"Put your arms around my waist unless you want to die in the middle of the road once I sped up."

Easy for him to say. I could not do that because it was just too awkward!

Hibari just grabbed both of my arms and placed around his waist much to my shock. I was about to say anything when he already started up the engine and later sped up. I tightened my arms around his waist because it was too fast and I did not want to die, rolling on the road as well. We arrived at our destination: Namimori Middle School.

"Why are we at school? I thought it was closed for the school opening anniversary."

"That's exactly why you're here. You will be the host for that event until it ends."

"H-host?? Why me?! I-I'm not good at hosting an event! Are you trying to make me a laughing stock in front of the guests??" I retorted.

"Why is that, herbivore?" Hibari asked and he took a few steps closer to me with a smirk. "Are you trying to defy my orders?"

"I-I'm not...I'm just...nervous. I-I have stage fright..." I merely whispered.

"Simple enough. Just imagine that the audiences are your enemies and you need to defeat all of them to win the battle."

"Wait, what kind of advice is that?"

"An advice that should be in your head. Go and get ready. Don't you dare to mess up everything or I'll bite you to death," Hibari threatened me before he went to another place, leaving me at the gym.

Most of the guests were the teachers and some important guests and I should imagine them as my enemies? Hibari's weird advice made me even more scared to face all of them. I felt like I wanted to run away from this place until I spotted someone familiar at the side of the school gym.

If I was not mistaken, he was Okami Shinji. He was a year older than me and he was my neighbour before he and his family moved to another district. I could not believe that I would meet him again at the same school. I was really surprised that he was made as a school prefect after I noticed his gangster hairstyle and his black uniform. I nearly laughed as I realised that I was hosting the event. He gave a friendly smile to me and tried to tell me to calm down.

I felt a little relaxed when he gave some sort of encouragement. Everything went well as far I could see and being the host was not as easy as I thought. As soon as the event was over, I quickly went to him and I greeted him like my old friend.

"Okami! What a coincidence."

"Ah, nice to see you again, [Name]," Okami shook my hand and smiled at me. "It's been four years we've never met."

"Yeah, and you're now a prefect??"

"Well yes, I am..."

Okami went on explaining that he was automatically made as a prefect after half a year studying at Namimori Middle school. Probably because of his good grades and he found out that it was horrifying when he had to dress himself up as a gangster. I giggled and I felt sorry for him. It was only a while when he told me that Kusakabe was supposed to host the event until he fell ill.

At least Hibari could have told me the real reason why I should become the host.

Hibari was not in the Disciplinary Office, so he might have been patrolling around the school. I guess I could just head back home to enjoy my remaining holiday time. My phone suddenly started to ring and it was an incoming call. I rummaged my school bag and as soon as I took out my phone to answer, it slipped from my hand.

To my horror, that phone dropped into the swimming pool! I could not lose that phone because it was given by that skylark! 

I would be dead if he found out!

Without thinking, I threw my school bag aside and jumped into the pool, trying my best to swim further in to retrieve that phone. I got it back and things could get worse. I was not a good swimmer.

My leg cramped in sudden. I could not swim back properly and almost drown.

I was trying but I could not hold it anymore. 

Someone...help me...

* * *

_"[Name], wake up! Are you alright?? Answer me!"_

I heard a voice...it felt so familiar...

_"Please, wake up!"_

I felt like someone repeatedly compressing my chest until I woke up and I coughed out some water. My head and my whole body were wet. I shook my groggy head for a moment and I noticed that someone was holding my hand tightly. Someone had just saved my life. I turned around and I gasped in shock to find out that Hibari was the one who saved me. He was soaking wet and he was giving me a very disapproved look.

"W-what are you thinking, herbivore?? Drowning yourself in the pool, without knowing that you can't even swim in your whole life??" Hibari snapped while wiping off his wet face.

"H-How...on earth you know that...I can't swim?" I asked with my confused look while coughing.

"Just answer my question. Why would you jump into the pool?"

"I-I jumped in...to retrieve back that phone you gave me..." I answered rather slowly. Hibari sighed and he went on to flick his finger straight to my forehead.

"Ouch! What the-"

"You idiot...you can't just risk your life just because of that damn phone."

"I have to because you told me not to lose it no matter what happens! Imagine my horror when I lose it in front of my eyes!"

The skylark went silent after hearing my explanation. Maybe he was right after all. I was a real idiot for risking my life over the phone. Hibari took his black uniform and covered me before he went on to carry me in bride style.

"W-where are you taking me to??" I asked wildly.

"Back to your home before you catch a cold," replied Hibari bluntly.

He sent me home on his motorcycle and he told me to just stay to get a rest. My mother went out to buy some groceries and she probably would not know why both of us were soaking wet.

He knew that I could not swim. How did he know that?

* * *

The next day, I already ironed his suit properly and I was surprised that it was still as good as new when he would always use it like his cape. I left my apartment and made my way to school. I would expect that Hibari would be at there although the school was closed on weekends. Minutes later, I knocked on the Disciplinary Office for a few times and there was no answer. It was the same when I knocked it again. 

I opened the door and that was when I saw Hibari sleeping on the table. I went towards him and shook him lightly.

"Um, Hibari-san? You can't sleep here if you-"

I noticed that his face was paler than usual. I touched his forehead and I found out that it was hot than normal body temperature. Hibari was having a high fever. There was no one around the school for me to call for help. I took his phone and tried to call senior Kusakabe several times but he did not pick up his phone.

There was no choice. Thinking of my last option, I had to pull him up and placed one of his arms around my shoulders. I had one of my hands to hold his arm and my other arm wrapped around his waist. He knew what I was doing as he tried to walk with me to reduce my burden. I quickly made my way to the nearest hospital. I thought I heard wrong but I did hear him mumbling in my ears.

"I'm sorry, [Name]...for calling you idiot. I'm glad you're safe..."

I swear, my face blushed furiously when he said that. This was the first time he called my name like that. He would either usually called me herbivore or my last name. How he got himself sick all in sudden? I soon realised that he was soaking wet after saving my life from drowning in the swimming pool.

I was getting tired and after arriving at the hospital's main entrance, a doctor quickly came to us and had told the nurses to bring Hibari to the nearest ward for further check-up. I waited for some time and the doctor came to me, telling me that the skylark was having a high fever. 

As I managed to bring him here right in time, he was in a safer zone. I went inside the ward and he was sleeping peacefully. His face was no longer pale. I took his phone and I was planning to call senior Kusakabe once again to remind him that Hibari was in the hospital. I noticed that there was a missed call from someone with a name on it.

_Hibari Satoshi (grandfather)_

I blinked several times and I did not think that Hibari ever told me about his grandfather.

"Don't tell my grandfatherabout me," Hibari spoke out weakly.

"You never tell me about him. Why is that so?"

"He had enough things to worry about. Just don't let him know about it."

"I won't tell but I think he would know soon enough. I'm done here, so I'll just head back home-"

I could not finish my sentence when Hibari pulled my arm and that made me slumped against the bed. I gave my confused look and we were staring at each other before he pecked on my cheek.

"Thank you, [Name]..." he had a small smile on his lips and later fell asleep on his bed.

I left the ward, speechless. I slowly touched my cheek where he pecked me earlier. I was getting mentally insane about his odd behaviour. 

He saved my life, he gave me his uniform coat, he mumbled while on the way to the hospital and he kissed my cheek to say thank you??

I shook my head hard. Maybe he would change back to a very mean and ruthless head prefect Hibari Kyoya right after he recovered from his illness. Why was that? He had just bitten Tsuna to death for disturbing his sleep. A stupid game he made up. The one that disturbed his peaceful sleep was that damned flower petal falling onto the table.

Poor Tsuna. It was hard to be in the same ward as the skylark.


	4. valentine

Valentine's Day was my most tiring day. It was supposed to be a favourite day for boys because they would receive chocolates from girls, especially when they happen to be their crush. 

It was tiring because I wanted to make some chocolates for my friends. I woke about four in the morning just to do this and I even made a list of names of who I was going to give.

Yamamoto, Tsuna, Reborn, Gokudera, Kyoko and Hana. I would make some for I-Pin and Lambo, the little children whom I often saw them hanging around at Tsuna's house.

I froze when I thought of that skylark. I doubted if he even celebrated Valentine's Day since he hated crowds. Come to think of it, he saved my life a few times. 

From the bullies and from being drowned in the pool. He even got sick because of me. I gave a light sigh and I decided to make one for him as a form of gratitude.

As soon I was done with the chocolates, I went on to wear my school uniform and packed my things before I made all my way to school. I started to see more girls giving chocolates to boys and there, I could see Yamamoto walked to school and I quickly rummaged my bag for the chocolate. I was going to take it out when I heard the girls screaming to see him around.

"Yamamoto!! Please accept our chocolate gifts!!" the girls screamed as they surrounded him with chocolates at their hands.

"Oh, thank you for the gifts!" Yamamoto answered as he smiled at them while accepting the gifts.

"Uwahhh!! Gokudera is here!!" another group of girls went on to follow him much to his annoyance.

"Stop following me, will you?!" yelled Gokudera angrily but that made all of them squealed with delight.

There was no way I could give both of them while they were being surrounded by girls. I gave one to Tsuna and he was quite happy to receive a Valentine chocolate from me because I was the first girl in the school who would ever give the chocolate to a useless-Tsuna (he was hoping for Kyoko to give him one). I blinked with surprise when he said that and I smiled back at him. 

I had managed to give some to Kyoko and Hana. Kyoko was planning to make some chocolates with her friend, Haru right after school hours.

There were a few chocolates left in my bag. For Yamamoto, Gokudera, Lambo, I-Pin and Hibari. He was not at the school for the whole time. The crowd of girls surely sore his eyes. I wondered if there was any girl had a crush on him? I was walking back to Hibari's house when I saw I-Pin wandering around, looking for something.

"Hello, I-Pin. What are you looking for?" I asked.

" _Ni hao_ , have you seen Lambo around here?" I-Pin asked politely.

"Um, I don't think I've seen him around here. Why, did he bully you again?"

"He stole my chocolate and I-Pin wants it back now!" retorted I-Pin angrily.

"He stole your chocolate? You didn't give him one, is it?" I asked curiously.

"Who wants to give chocolate to a naughty boy like him? I-Pin wants revenge," I smiled nervously when I could feel the wrath aura from her.

"I get it then. How about we look for him together?"

" _Xie xie ni_ , [Name]."

"I-Pin, if it was not for Lambo or anyone else, who are you going to give that to?"

" _Aiyaa,_ it's a secret."

"Is it for your master?"

"Master went somewhere else, so I-Pin could not give him one."

"Then for who?"

I noticed that I-Pin was blushing furiously. If she was thinking of her martial arts master, that would be the reason why her face was red, but I got the feeling that she was thinking of someone else.

"Someone that made I-Pin's heart-melting by looking at him," I-Pin blushed even darker and I sighed. She still did not want to tell me about her deep crush. So we went on to look for Lambo and he appeared just in front of us from nowhere.

"Nyahahaha! Lambo-san is here, with some chocolates for me!!" the child with a cow-print outfit laughed proudly and he turned to look at me. "Nee, [Name], do you have any chocolates for me?? Do you, do you??"

"I do have one for you," I answered slowly.

"Really?? Give me, give me then!"

"Not until you return I-Pin's chocolate," I smirked at him.

"Gyahhh!! I want it, I want it!!" Lambo wailed loudly.

"Give back my chocolate, Lambo!" I-Pin yelled.

"Shan't!!" Lambo ran somewhere else while I-Pin followed him from behind.

That leaves me in the middle of the road with no one. I forgot to give the chocolate to I-Pin. I turned around and I saw Gokudera and Yamamoto walking to Tsuna's house. It was strange to see that both were walking together because a hot-tempered guy like Gokudera would never hang out with anyone, especially the 'baseball freak' Yamamoto. All he care was his boss (Tsuna).

"Hey, [Name]! What are you doing here?" asked Yamamoto with his bright smile.

"I'm on my way home. I'm guessing that both of you are on the way to Tsuna's house, am I right?" I lied a little. I could not possibly tell them that I was going to Hibari's house.

"Of course we're going to the Tenth's house! As his right-hand man, I'll always serve for him no matter what!" said Gokudera proudly.

"Okay, I get it. Wait, I have something for both of you," I took out one chocolate out and I passed it to the silver-haired first. "Happy Valentine's Day, Gokudera."

"Tch! Not another one. I supposed that you're just the same as those crazy girls," said Gokudera sarcastically as I smacked across his forehead hard ("Ouch!").

"I give chocolates doesn't mean I have a crush on anyone! I gave these as an appreciation, get it?!" I retorted.

"Alright, alright, I get it!" Gokudera answered while taking the chocolate from my hands and rubbed his forehead painfully.

"Haha, calm down, both of you. There's no need the fuss about it," Yamamoto tried to stop us from arguing further.

"Uh, sorry for that..." I laughed and I took out another one for Yamamoto. "Here, this is for you as well."

"Whoa! Thank you so much, [Name]!" said Yamamoto brightly. From all the chocolates he got it from his admirers, he seemed to be happy to receive mine. "Say, are you going over to Tsuna's house as well? I hear that the girls are going to make something nice at his house."

"I'll pass. I need to do my part-time work," I replied with my apologetic smile. Since they were going to see Lambo and I-Pin, I asked Yamamoto's favour to pass the chocolate to them ("I didn't know that stupid cow will get one."). They later made their way to Tsuna's house while I was walking to Hibari's house.

I was done cleaning and all I need to do was to fold all the clothes that I had washed since morning. Most of the clothes were Hibari's school uniforms and that made me wonder if he was the only one living in this large house. I found out that he had a grandfather but I had never seen him around. He probably went for a short vacation or dealing with his own business.

"[Name], have you seen the head prefect?"

I turned around and I saw senior Kusakabe was standing nearby the living hall's entrance. He was freaking tall that I had to look up at him as if I was about to break my neck. People would assume that he was the head prefect because he was much taller than Hibari. He could be scary but he was quite tolerable compared to his leader.

"He's not home yet. Maybe he is still at school, patrolling around," I answered.

"Well, I didn't see him around the school area. Looks like he's walking around the town," Kusakabe was about to leave the living hall when I quickly called out to him.

"Senior, may I ask you something? It's about Hibari-san."

"Hm? What do you want to know about him?" the other asked curiously.

"Uh, I just want to know if he ever stayed with someone. Like living with his parents or a relative."

Senior Kusakabe was rather silent when he listened to what I was asking. It took him some time for him to decide whether to tell me or not before he cleared his throat.

"I guess that I can tell you about it since you will soon get to meet someone who also lives in this house. The head prefect had lost his parents when he was young and lives with his grandfather, Satoshi, who happens to be the most influential family leader in this district. Right after the death of his son, Sato-san is the one to raise his only grandson all by himself. He is also the one who taught him how to fight."

"His grandfather taught him how to fight?" I blinked with surprise.

"Yes, he found out that his grandson was often being bullied by other boys for having no parents. Sato-san is unimaginable strong and pretty stern. He probably wants him to take over the family if one day he is gone."

"I didn't see his grandfather around. I thought Hibari-san is the only one stays here."

"He's away to do deal with his own business. Not sure what is it about but I heard that he will be home much sooner."

I learnt a bit about Hibari's grandfather and I might need to be more polite once I did get to see him one day. Maybe he was going to look like the exact copy of his grandson. I was hoping that I did not get confused with both of them if they were the exact copies. Senior Kusakabe later excused himself so that he could go and look for that head prefect. I continued with my current work and prepared some meals for dinner before I went back home. 

It was when someone called out my name from behind and I turned around only to see I-Pin with a bright smile on her face.

"Ah, I-Pin. Did you get your present back from Lambo?"

"Yes, I-Pin got it back. Now I-Pin just needs to give it to someone."

"Really? Looks like I can get to meet your crush, is it?"

I gave a small smirk to her and she was blushing madly. She was going to answer when her head lifted and stared with awe. I was curious and look at where she was looking. I was in shock to see that Hibari appeared from one of the forked roads.

"What are you two doing here?"

"I-I'm helping I-Pin to look for her-"

I-Pin suddenly walked towards the skylark and handed the chocolate to him. 

For all this time, she had a deep crush on Hibari?

"For me?" 

I-Pin nodded and was way too shy to look at his face. Hibari then took it from her hands she ran away from the spot we stood. I flinched when I heard an explosion coming from her direction.

"Uh, I hope she's alright there," I mumbled.

"You've done all the housework, herbivore?"

"All done, hours ago before you come home."

"Then come again tomorrow morning for your usual work," he began to take a few steps away from me when I suddenly called out to tell him to stop. "What now?"

"I-I need to give you something..." I nervously rummaged my school bag and I took out the chocolate straight to his hands, without looking at him. "It's for you..."

"Is it originally squashed right after you made it?"

I was puzzled when he said that and my eyes widened with shock to see that the chocolate had been snapped into half. I was careful enough to make sure that all my chocolates were in good condition until I realised that I accidentally fell on my school bag when I was doing some cleaning at his house. I took it back, feeling embarrassed as I turned away but he pulled my arm to make me look at his face.

"I didn't say that I don't want it." 

With a small smirk on his lips, he took that gift from my hands. 

"Wait till I give you something in return on the White Day, herbivore."


	5. attack

It was at night, probably already almost nine and I just got out from Hibari's house. He gave me an extra workload while I was doing some cleaning. My parents might be worrying though I had told them it was just my part-time work. Still, going home at this night creep me out. There was someone bumped into me, and I nearly screamed with shock.

"Um, I'm sorry, miss..."

I heard a child's voice as I turned around. He was roughly about nine-years-old and had a short, ash blonde hair matching his big, brown eyes. He was wearing casual clothes and had a white black muffler scarf around his neck. 

I had never seen him before but a boy wandering around at night was rather suspicious. Was he lost?

"It's alright. Shouldn't you go home by now? It's already dark here."

"I-I have to leave this place. T-they are after me..." the boy answered and he just ran off with hurry.

Did he ran away from the house or what? I decided to follow him from behind and maybe I could help him rather than letting him wandering around the dark streets. When I turned to another corner, I did not see that boy but instead, I saw two teenage guys in green school uniform, assaulting a Namimori school prefect which turned out to be Okami Shinji. 

I gasped with horror and when one of them was about to kick him again, I ran to him and I ended up receiving that harsh blow.

"Huh, what'ya think you're doing? Playing a hero?" one of them with dirty blonde hair asked curiously.

"....h-how could you...do that to him?? H-he didn't do...anything wrong..." I whimpered in pain while asking.

"We did this for real reason. But, since you know him so well, maybe we can just ask you some questions..."

"...w-what do you want to...ask...??" I asked further and I had a very bad feeling about it.

"Ken, our target is to fish out the young mafia boss. I doubt that she knows anything," the bespectacled guy spoke out.

"Tch, you're annoying," the blonde shot his angry look at the other and he turned to look at me, cracking his fists. "Don't blame me for it, girl."

I froze as I was not sure what to do. Fighting back was dangerous and running away was probably the bad idea if he chased me from behind. Plus, I could not leave Okami behind.

The moment when this dirty blonde guy was going to hit me with his punch, someone was standing in front of me and gave a harsh blow to that blonde. The blonde stumbled on the floor, holding his cheek painfully before he glared at an elderly white-haired man. I was much confused since there was a stranger suddenly appeared right in front of me and dealing with those two guys.

Whether if that man would be fine on his own, I passed out due to the pain I had to endure.

* * *

It was really strange that I started to remember some bits of my childhood memories. Especially about that black-haired boy.

Back then, I was in Namimori district to visit my grandmother with my parents. They later took me to a recreational park with many facilities such as a mini zoo, botanical garden and lots more. 

Being inquisitive, I wander off on my own and I got myself lost in the middle of the crowd. I was about to cry out when that black-haired boy around my age came to me with a kind smile.

He brought me to many places where we could have fun together. Simply because he did it to make me happy. It was when we were surrounded by the older boys and they never looked like they wanted to play with us. The black-haired boy fought against them and I feared that he could not defeat them all by himself. So, I helped him to beat some of these bullies. We were done with them and he was worried about my injuries.

_"I promise that I'll be strong, to protect you from any harm. You've been protecting me for so long, this time...I'll do the same, [Name]."_

I slowly opened both of my eyes and it took me some time to find out that I was sleeping in someone's room. I was thinking that I have seen this room before until I realised that it was a spare bedroom for guests from Hibari's house.

Since when I slept in his house? Who brought me here anyway?

"You're awake?"

I turned my head aside and I saw that skylark standing against the door frame. I was trying to sit up but the pain in my stomach was not allowing me to do so. He walked in and sat on the bed, gently brushing some of my hairs from my forehead. That look from his eyes was much softer than usual. Had he been worrying about me last night?

"Hibari-san, why am I sleeping here?"

"Grandpa told me that you've been assaulted by other school delinquents, so he had been dealing with them before bringing you here."

"W-wait, that elderly man...is your grandfather??" I blinked with shock.

"Yes, he is. You'll get to see him again once you're recovered."

"W-what about Okami? Is he alright?"

"He's in the hospital, along with other prefects and students who had been assaulted by the same person."

"There were more attacks on Namimori students? Why would they do that on them?"

"I don't know what is their purpose, but at least I know who they are."

If I could remember correctly, those guys did say that they wanted to look for the young mafia boss. The person they were looking for was among the Namimori students. With the recent attacks befell on those unfortunate prefects and students, Hibari was not going to let those guys away from their wrongdoings.

"While I'm gone, I want you to stay here and get some rest," he took one of my hands and gripped it tightly to show that he was serious. "I am going to find that person who hurt you last night."

"What the? A-are you going to look for them?" I shook my head hard and I gripped his hand. "They're dangerous, don't you see how they attacked Okami??"

"You are worried about me, herbivore?"

"I-I know you're strong, but..."

"I'm going to be fine," Hibari gave a small smile to me. "If it is possible, I'll be home for dinner."

After his last words, he released my hand and walked out of the room. I just watched him leave and I could not stop worrying about him. 

Instead of continuing sleeping, I hastily sat up and I winced in pain. It was not as painful as that night and I was able to walk around the house. His grandfather was not in the house and I guess that I missed my chance to meet him again. 

I wanted to thank him for saving my life.

One hour had passed. My current injury was probably a good excuse to absent from school and I spent most of my time looking at the photo albums. Most of the pictures were old and there were people I did not know. Maybe they were Hibari's possible relatives.

I suddenly stopped turning the album page and I saw a picture of a black-haired boy. The same boy whom I have met when I was a child. 

Did it mean that it had been Hibari all the time?

The only reason why he knew so much about me?

I quickly took out the phone from my pocket and I dialled Hibari's number. I waited for him to pick up the call and I soon hear someone's voice. My eyes widened in horror when I heard a sinister, unfamiliar voice.

_"Kufufufu, are you looking for Hibari Kyoya?"_

"W-who are you?? And, why you have Hibari-san's phone??"

 _"Simple. I've defeated him,"_ the voice snickered with amusement. _"Oh my, he looked weak after I've given him some graceful blows."_

"N-no, you're lying..." my voice was shaking.

 _"You think I'm lying? Don't worry, I shall pass this line to him."_

The voice spoke and as soon as I tried to talk to him, I heard a weak, muffled voice.

_"...[Name]..."_

"Hibari-san! Are you alright?!"

_"...stay safe...and don't come here..."_

"D-don't say like that as if you're going to die! Just hang on there!"

I did not hear the skylark's voice when I that mysterious voice came back again.

_"I think that should be enough since he is now asleep here. You're from Namimori Middle, right? I want to ask you a simple question. Do you happen to know who is the current tenth mafia boss of Vongola Famiglia?"_

"The hell I know who is he! You're the one who sent your friends to hurt Okami and others! Now you're hurting Hibari-san all for that person you're looking for! Don't you have anything else better to do?!"

 _"Mind your language, young lady. I do not tolerate rude people,"_ the voice spoke out coldly. _"You don't know either, so I'll just stop here for now as I do not want to waste my time talking to you. Arrivederci."_

"Wait-!"

The last thing I heard on the phone was a crashing sound. That person might have dropped and smashed it to pieces. I felt like the world had turned upside down. What am I going to do? 

Hibari was in danger and more Namimori students were being attacked.

I need to help him.

* * *

With the help of the information I found in the study room, I found out that those guys in green uniforms were from Kokuyo Junior High and they used to hang out at an abandoned place called Kokuyo Land. 

For safety reason, I brought along a first aid kit and a steel pipe. It was quite a long walk and I just only knew that it was the same recreational park I had visited. Only that it was long abandoned and it was also the place where Hibari and I first met.

As I stepped into the place, I felt a hostile presence. I quickly looked around and I did not see anyone. Why would I felt that way?

_"You've grown up, [Name]."_

"H-huh??"

_"I am so glad to see you safe after all these years. I truly apologise for abandoning you."_

The unknown voice was talking to me through my mind and I was utterly confused. This happened right after I went into the Kokuyo Land. I caught a glimpse of a teenage guy with blue hair and he had heterochromia eyes. That hostile feeling came from him and I felt something was not right about him. When he turned to leave, I called out to him. He just kept on walking further away from me as I followed him from behind. As I reached the main building, he was gone all of a sudden.

I was soon distracted when I saw Yamamoto and another scary-looking man under the tree. Noticing that the other was probably dying, I checked his injuries and he seemed to have been poisoned. I immediately took out the bandage and wrapped around his arm and his body tightly, few inches away from the poison. This was to prevent the poison from spreading at a high speed. Yamamoto had a bloodied arm and broken ribs. I treated his wounds as he was resting and that made me wonder why he was in this place. 

Was he coming with someone else other than Hibari?

After making sure that both of them were safe, I went into the main building to look for that skylark. I forgot that inside the building had many floors and I would be dead if I met someone who could be the one had defeated that skylark. I was so scared that I was gripping the steel pipe tightly, waiting for the chance to hit whoever was coming to attack me.

Sometimes, it was not a good idea for being too careful.

The floor crumbled and I fell straight into the lower ground floor. I groaned in pain and I kept on coughing thanks to the dust and debris. It was so dark and a cold voice suddenly spoke out to me much to my shock.

"Didn't I tell you...not to come here, herbivore?"

"S-sorry! I was-!"

I stopped talking and my face went pale looking at Hibari's condition. He was completely beaten up, bloodied and might have multiple broken bones.

This was the first time I would ever see him in a bad shape.


	6. victim

"A-are you alright?"

"I'm fine. I just...need some rest..." Hibari answered weakly.

"That state you're in is not going to convince me that you're fine."

"Look, when I say I'm fine, then I am definitely-"

The skylark stopped talking when I went on to touch the lower part of his chest. He hissed with pain and I could feel that several parts of his bones were broken. He had it worse than my injury last night and I wanted to know who was the one had beaten him so badly. 

It was odd that my eyes nearly filled with tears when I saw his current condition.

"Still want to debate with me again? You can't lie with all those injuries you have."

"...why are you here? I've told you not to come over here, right?"

"I-I can't just sit and wait for you to come home like this," I answered quickly with my worried tone. "I did tell you that these people you're looking for are dangerous and you still want to find them."

I paused and I was still staring back at him. He was still quiet as I wondered if he was trying to think what he wanted to say, or rather he wanted to hit me for disobeying his words. I gave a light sigh before I spoke out to break the silence.

"I don't know if you're doing this just to protect me or otherwise, but I don't want you to look at me as your burden. I want to help, just like that time we managed to defeat all those boys when we were young."

"...you remembered?"

"I have a very bad memory but this kind of dream keeps on coming inside my head. I have no idea that the black-haired boy back then was you until I saw a photo album of your family," I explained as I realised something important. "We'll talk later. I need to fix your injuries."

He was suffering from multiple broken bones and even normal people could not stand with this kind of pain. I used the bandages to wrap almost parts of his body so that he would not break his bones all over again. 

As soon I was done, I heard a bird chirping before it started to sing Namimori Middle school's song.

Wait, a fluffy yellow bird was singing a school song?

Hibari knew something would happen as he grabbed my arm and covered both of my ears. An explosion occurred and the wall crumbled in front of our eyes.

"...you're the only one who loves the school song so much. The Head of Disciplinary Committee," Gokudera Hayato spoke out loudly. He was lying on the floor and looked beaten up as well.

"I could have escaped on my own..." Hibari glared at the silver-haired.

"So the half-dead prefect is still alive?" the dirty blonde haired guy spoke out cockily and his eyes soon fell at the sight of me with delight. "Oh, that girl is here too? How about I devour her?"

Hibari was snapped at that guy's words. He stood up, glaring at the blonde before he spoke out to Gokudera. "I'll take care of them. You can keep on sleeping there."

"Tch, go ahead then..." Gokudera replied and Hibari then went off to finish off the other two. I crawled out and I went to him to check on his injuries.

"I thought you got hurt because of your bombs."

"Shut up, woman..." he grumbled. "Why are you here anyway? This is not a place for you to hang around."

"I am about to say the same thing to you," I gave a small sigh. "Whatever, we are now in this mess. Let me help you with your injuries."

His shirt was bloody and it took lots of bandages to temporarily stop his bleeding. The moment I was done tending his injuries, he slowly sat up and somewhat feeling a little better.

"Thanks, now I'm going to catch up with him."

"Like now? Aren't you supposed to rest??"

"There's no time to rest. I need to give something important to that prefect," Gokudera turned to look at me. "If you still want to stay, I suggest you stay with that baseball freak. Wait until the help comes."

He did not bother to wait for me to respond as he stood up and ran out of the building to help Hibari. I had to agree with him since staying in this old building was not a good idea. Though I was hoping that we could leave this place safely.

My parents would be worried sick if they knew I was involved with this kind of situation. At least they still did not know that I got attacked last night. I stood up and making sure that I did not leave anything behind. I cautiously walked to the exit and it was freaking dark inside. How long had this place been left abandoned?

I managed to find the exit and I stepped out only to see two unconscious guys on the ground. That dirty blond-haired and another one with glasses. Hibari and Gokudera had managed to defeat both of them. I was supposed to walk away from them and yet, I was still staring at them.

Why did I feel like I had seen them before? Including that guy with heterochromia eyes?

_"It's been long, [Name]."_

"Huh??"

The two unconscious guys suddenly stood up and they were now staring at me with a small grin on their face. Both of their eyes were blue and red in colour and odd-looking violet aura appeared in their red eyes. I gasped with shock and I was ready to swing the steel pipe at them. As far as I know, they did not have that kind of eyes. Only that blue-haired guy had those eyes. What the hell was going on?

"Do you want to hit me with that steel pipe? Don't you remember who we are?" the guy with glasses spoke out.

"I-I have no idea what are you talking about," I replied bluntly.

"Come on, try to remember further," the other added.

"I don't know!" I retorted. "All I know is that you've been hurting many people! What kind of selfish goal you're trying to achieve by doing all these??"

"Selfish goal??" the bespectacled guy gave a low chuckle. "You should have known better, [Name]. If it wasn't because of them, we won't have to do this. You and the three of us are the victims of this evil society."

"Me, a victim? I'm not like you!" I answered with anger.

"And if it wasn't because of them, you would have lived with your real parents instead," the blond-haired replied.

My face was as white as a paper. What were they trying to tell me? Why were they saying that I was a part of their lives? What do they mean by my real parents?

I stepped away from them and in a few seconds, I ran away. Ran all my way back to the spot where Yamamoto was resting. It was a relief that they did not run after me but I was confused. How did they know about me and why I was a victim along with them? I could not recall what exactly happened to me in the past before I was adopted.

If I could recall, what if I got involved with something darker?

"H-hey, [Name]..."

"Yamamoto! A-are you alright??" I asked worriedly right after I heard his voice.

"I'm fine...just a little...kind of having a sprain after being knocked out..." he gave a weak smile. "Anyway, you're not supposed to be here. It's dangerous..."

"I know that, and I came here to see if any of you are safe," I replied. "Just don't move a lot, I've done with your injuries for temporary."

"You helped me??" Yamamoto beamed. "That's cool, thank you so much..."

"Uh, it's nothing much," I tried to smile but it ended up like I was forced to do so.

"What's wrong? Something happened?"

"Nothing, I'm just glad to see all of you safe."

Yamamoto's hand reached out my hand and grasped it gently. I blinked with surprise as I turned to stare at him. His eyes held a great concern and that was something different from him.

"[Name], if there's anything you want to tell, just tell me. Don't keep it all by yourself."

I was stuck with my own words as I could not think of how to reply. I heard more people were coming and I saw many people coming right to the spot where I was. They started to bring the scary-looking man for further treatment and Yamamoto was then being treated as well. Some of them went into the old building and within ten minutes, they brought out the injured ones.

Gokudera, the pink-haired woman, the runaway boy whom I had met last night and Hibari.

Except for that boy, the three of them had serious injuries. The one who hurt them...was it the one who said that I was also the victim of the evil society?

* * *

_"I'm scared. I want my father back..."_

_"You can't go to him. He won't come back to you."_

_"No, I want to go with him. He's the only family I have..."_

_"He wants me to take good care of you. Believe me, he wants you to be safe. Come on, we need to leave this place."_

_"W-wait. If we leave...can I see my father again? Can I??"_

_"...yes. You will get to see him soon."_

I was sleeping again but this time, it was a different dream. It was not about my childhood years with Hibari. It was about my past.

I could not see anything. It was just pitch black. Only me and the other person were talking to each other. It seemed like we were in a hurry to leave a certain place and all I asked was about my real father. That was the only dream of my past.

I was currently in a hospital to take care of Hibari and I had been counting every minute or seconds for him to wake up. Right after I tend his injuries, he was breaking his bones even more than usual. 

I had that urge to pinch his cheek for exceeding his limit.

"He's not going to give up, isn't he?"

I quickly turned around and I saw the same elderly man who saved me from being attacked that night. When I remembered that he was Hibari's grandfather, I got extremely nervous as I bowed at him even lower to show some respect.

"You are the one who has been doing some housekeeping in my place, right?" he asked with a cold and calm tone.

"Y-yes, my name is [Full Name]," I answered awkwardly. "Nice to meet you, uh..."

"Just call me Sato-san, miss [Last Name]. It will be easier than calling someone who shared the same family name."

"Yes, Sato-san. Nice to meet you," I replied formally. "I-I'm sorry about your grandson."

"You do not need to apologise. He chose to deal with these troublemakers who have been hurting the students from his school."

"Even at the level to hurt himself??"

"He wants to win. As long as he can stand, he will do whatever it takes to win. That is something will not change from him."

I gave a light sigh as I stared back at the sleeping skylark. I did not get what he wants. It was like he wanted to be that way and he did not like it if it did not go as he planned. Was he really that Hibari I knew when I was young.?

"Sato-san, are you the one who taught Hibari-san how to fight?"

"Indeed I am."

"May I ask you one favour?"

"What is it, miss [Last Name]?"

"Can you please teach me how to fight?"

"And why is that so?"

I felt like Hibari went through all these because he said before that he was going to look for someone who hurt me that night. I did not want to feel useless for him. I looked up at the elder as I replied my answer to his question.

"He used to protect me and I do not want to be his burden. I want to help, to be stronger, or better, I want to protect him too even if he does not want anyone to do the same for him."


	7. rehearsal

Time passed so quickly as I entered my second year at school. Thanks to Reborn's 'help', I was in the same class as everyone I had met from the previous year. Kyoko and Hana were so glad to see me again so that we could eat together during the recess and lunchtime.

Ever since the Kokuyo attack incident, Yamamoto had been trying to talk to me and Tsuna had been a little worrying about me as soon he learnt that I was in that place where I should not be staying. I had been telling him many times that I was fine and nothing bad happened to me. I did notice that Reborn had been eyeing me curiously. When I wanted to ask why he was looking at me like that, he just gave an innocent smile to me before he went off to another place.

I soon forgot about it as the school was organising some sort of a carnival event and students were required to participate in that event. In this case, Reborn had arranged for us and this gave us a huge shock.

"Are you serious? You suggested that we should do the skit?" the brunette looked at Reborn suspiciously.

"Why not? This is also a part of your training as the future boss," the infant gave a sly smirk.

"Performing in front of people?? Are you trying to make me a laughing stock?!" Tsuna retorted.

"You're going to perform along with your family members, Tsuna. This is your chance to show how strong Vongola Famiglia is," Reborn stated.

"Didn't I say that I don't want to be a part of the mafia??" Tsuna whined.

"Tenth, let us do it! Let us prove to everyone that the Vongola is as strong as what they can't imagine!" Gokudera yelled in excitement.

"You're so...excited about it, aren't you?"

"Hahaha! Come on, sounds like fun! Right, [Name]?" Yamamoto asked while looking at me.

"H-huh? Am I joining as well??" I asked confusedly.

"Of course, [Name]. You're a part of this family," Reborn grinned.

"What?! But I have a stage fright-!"

"Ah, that would be fun!" Kyoko interrupted with her bright look. "I'm sure Haru-chan would love to join us."

"In that case, let us assemble at the school gym so that we can proceed with the character selection," Reborn added and he just went out from our classroom to make some preparations.

Tsuna and I were dumbfounded when we realised that everyone agreed to do a skit for the carnival.

* * *

After the school hours, we soon arrived at the school gym and Reborn had been sitting on the stage waiting for all of us. Haru was excited that she could join us along with Kyoko's brother and Gokudera's half-sister, Bianchi. She was that pink-haired woman I had seen from Kokuyo Land and she was here to assist Reborn.

"Now all of you need to take one paper from this container and open it to see what are you going to play as," Reborn held out a box with some folded papers in it.

"Wait, what are we going to play for the skit?" Tsuna asked Reborn curiously.

"You'll know about it soon enough. Pick one paper and see what role you are taking."

So all of us picked one paper from the container and we unfolded the paper to read it. Mixed reactions appeared on our faces right after reading the paper we had picked.

"Cool, I get to become the prince!" said Yamamoto enthusiastically.

"T-the hell?! I'm going to be a fairy godmother?!" Gokudera gave his horrified look.

"Hahii! I'm the fairy godmother as well!" Haru yelped with surprise.

"Reborn-san! Why I have to play along with this idiot woman?!" retorted Gokudera.

"Hey, I'm not an idiot woman, you jerk!" Haru yelled at Gokudera before she turned to look at Reborn. "Why I can't be with Tsuna-san since I'm going to be his future wife??"

"How should I know? That is the paper you've picked and there's no exchange," Reborn smirked.

"Nyahahaha!! Lambo-san will be the greatest fairy god whatever in the world!" declared Lambo loudly while holding up his paper.

"What the hell are you doing here, idiot cow?!" the silver-haired growled.

"Heh, calling someone idiot makes you even look more like an idiot than you thought," Lambo sneered and later earned a beating ("Gyahhh.!") before Haru could stop them.

"What about the others? I need to know your roles. Tsuna, what's yours?" asked Reborn.

"Eh? M-my role?" Tsuna appeared to look a little disappointed. 

He had probably heard that Yamamoto got a role as a prince. His eyes then blinked with shock after reading his paper. 

"What?! I'm going to be the king??"

"Really? What a coincidence, I'm going to be the queen," Kyoko had read hers and smiling warmly at Tsuna. "Let us try our best, Tsuna."

"Kyoko-chan will be...the queen??" Tsuna's face quickly turned red as if his wish had just granted.

"WHOA! I AM GOING TO BE THE EVIL WIZARD TO THE EXTREME!" Ryohei yelled so loud that the whole gym was shaking.

"Big brother, you can't just go and yell like that!" Kyoko said quickly.

"Oi, turf-head! Stop yelling, you're hurting our eardrums!" retorted Gokudera.

"Huh?! What did you just call me, octopus-head?!" Ryohei yelled again and both of them ended up staring at each other intensely.

"Hey, [Name]. What is your role?" asked Kyoko.

"Yeah, Haru wants to know as well. Tell us about your role!" Haru said excitedly and I was nervous when I slowly unfolded my paper. I gave my obvious shock look when I read it.

"I'm going to be...a princess."

"Wow! [Name] is going to be the princess!" Haru squealed with delight.

"That's cool! You're going to play along with Yamamoto," said Kyoko.

"Great, [Name]! I'll be looking forward to our performance," said Yamamoto brightly as I sheepishly smiled at him.

Everyone else was happy but I guess I was the only one who was not confident at all. Stage fright and being the main character, I rather spent most of my time doing the housekeeping at Hibari's house.

* * *

The day before the carnival. We had been going through a lot of countless rehearsals for the skit and I felt like I got even worse playing my role. I was on the verge to tell Reborn that I wanted to quit when Yamamoto came to me.

"Hey, [Name]. Let us practice for one last time."

"Y-yeah...I..."

"What's wrong, [Name]? Are you not feeling well?"

"No, I'm fine," I gave a light sigh. "I don't think I can do this. I want to tell Reborn that I'm quitting."

"Seriously? You're just getting it right after many days of practice."

"I feel like I'm getting worse. I don't want everyone's efforts to go to waste because of me."

"[Name]. You're not a burden to all of us. You are our friend and we are helping you."

"Yamamoto..."

"More importantly, let us have fun. Relax and don't force yourself."

I stared back at him and I slowly smiled as I felt better after hearing his advice. However, I failed to realise that a sandbag above the stage was falling right at the spot I was standing. Yamamoto's face looked alarmed and he quickly pushed me away, resulting him to get his feet struck by that sandbag. Tsuna and others quickly came over to see what happened.

"Yamamoto! Are you okay?!" I asked with my horrified look and my hands were shivering.

"What happened, [Name]??" Tsuna asked worriedly.

"T-the sandbag dropped from above...and he...he-"

"It's fine, Tsuna," Yamamoto interrupted and he gave a pained look. "That sandbag nearly killed her, so I pushed her away and I got hit instead. On my feet..."

"Some sort of an accident??" Ryohei added curiously.

"No, this is not an accident," Gokudera said firmly while taking a closer look at the sandbag. "The cut on the rope looks new. It seems that someone is trying to kill [Name]."

"K-kill...me?" I muttered. "But why?"

"[Name], you don't need to worry about this. I'll go and check around to see if your possible killer left any clues," Reborn stated. "I'm afraid that Yamamoto is not able to perform tomorrow."

"What?? But Yamamoto is the prince in the story!" Tsuna replied with his panicked look.

"Hahii! The love story will not be complete without the prince charming," Haru gave a disappointed look.

"Well, if not because of that killer b*st*rd, we are not in deep trouble!" retorted Gokudera angrily.

"R-Reborn, how about we just cancel this skit for now?" suggested Tsuna.

"You can do that but you need to remember that everyone is looking forward to seeing your performance tomorrow."

Tsuna went silent and he turned to look at us. He knew that we had been practising so hard for the skit and cancelling the skit meant that we did all these for nothing. My face held a guilt look. Yamamoto would not end up like this if it was not because of me.

"Tsuna, please go on without me," Yamamoto finally broke the silence. "You need to continue this skit."

"Are you sure about it, Yamamoto?" the brunette asked.

"Well, we've come here so far, right?" he grinned and he went on to look at me. "[Name], don't blame yourself. I'm glad that you're safe."

"You got hurt because of me..." I muttered.

"It's just a scratch, I'll be fine," he smiled. "Do your best, [Name]."

I soon nodded and I told Yamamoto to get well soon. Tsuna then gave his final answer and decided to continue without him. Reborn seemed to be proud of his student and later stated that he had found a possible replacement for the prince charming.

Hopefully, everything could go well.

* * *

I went to the library to return some books I had borrowed. A female student was blocking my way and I had to call out for her. Instead of excusing herself, she gave a bright look at me and went on to shake my hand, much to my shock.

"Hello, are you [Full Name]?? I've been looking forward to seeing you!"

"Uhh, I do believe that we never met before," I gave my awkward look.

"Oh, sorry..." she smiled cheekily. "My name is Mizushima Risako and I heard that you are going to be the princess for the skit tomorrow, right?"

"Wait, how did you know that I'm going to be the princess?"

"I'm in charge of the printing brochures for tomorrow's school carnival, so I know what the students will be doing for that day," Risako mentioned. "I even have the list of your members in a group who will be doing the skit."

"...yeah, I still don't get why are you excited to see me."

"You're damn lucky because you can get to kiss the prince charming, Yamamoto Takeshi. The girls at this school are jealous and I am merely excited to see that happen."

"The girls can smile happily then. Yamamoto is not able to perform tomorrow," I said glumly.

"Eh? Why is that so?"

Before I could answer, my phone was ringing in my pocket. I quickly excused myself, placing my books on the table and I left the library. I was nearly late to do my housekeeping and I bet that Hibari was going to bite me to death. I returned to the classroom to get my school bag and I answered his call.

"Hello?"

_"Herbivore, why are you taking a long time to answer my call?"_

"S-sorry, Hibari-san..." I quickly replied. "I was in the library returning my books. I'll come to your house immediately."

_"No, you don't need to come."_

"W-why?? I know that I'm nearly late, so I-"

_"Get rest at home. You can do the housekeeping after your skit."_

"You know about the skit?"

_"I'm the head prefect, remember? Now go home and remember all your script. Don't mess up everything tomorrow."_

"...thanks for your advice, Hibari-san."

He was being cold as usual but I was rather grateful that he let me off from work after Yamamoto's accident. I was wondering if he would be coming to watch the skit? It would be crowded in the school gym.

I was mentally hoping that he would come to watch me standing on the stage.


	8. sabotage

The whole students of Namimori Middle were busy and having fun during the school carnival. They were mostly selling drinks and foods, organising a mini-game and so on. The school gym looked more crowded as some students were using it for a band concert. I found out that more of them coming to watch our skit and we were all getting nervous.

Haru had been the one to decide what costume we were wearing along with Reborn and Bianchi's help. Tsuna was wearing a white uniform with an orange cape wrapped around his shoulder and had a fake crown around his head. Kyoko was wearing her favourite pink dress and also had a fake tiara worn around her head. 

The guys were going to smile happily to see their beautiful idol standing on the stage. I was praying that Tsuna would not be targeted by these jealous guys.

There was good news for girls too. For Gokudera's role as a fairy godfather, Haru decided to make him wear a maroon suit with a pair of small wings at his back.

"Damn it. This is getting ridiculous," the silver-haired muttered.

"Come on. The girls will always admire you," I grinned at him. "At least you're better than senior Sasagawa. He dressed up even worse than you are."

"Because he's an evil wizard, that's why," he replied shortly.

"It's going to be over after this. Didn't you say that you are doing this to prove that Vongola is the strongest among all the families?"

"I know that. You better be careful, woman. That person might try to kill you again during our skit."

I flinched a little when I heard him talking about that sandbag killer. Reborn had been wandering around the upper stage to look for any clues and he explained that whoever tried to kill me could be either a guy, a girl, a man or a woman. It was because the sandbag that dropped from above had the lightest weight compared to any other sandbags. Plus, it was much easier to cut its rope.

It was our turn to perform and we were heading out from the stage's dressing room. Bianchi stood at the side of the stage before she began to read the script.

"Once upon a time in a small kingdom, there lived a happy king and queen. The queen had just given birth to an adorable little princess, whom they named her as Aurora. As a celebration of the birth of the princess, the king invited all his citizens to the party and also invited some fairies to present their gifts to the newborn princess."

The brunette had managed to stay calm and I merely smiled to see him being steady on the stage.

"T-Thank you for your presence in my castle to celebrate my newborn daughter's birthday. Now I want each of you to....to present your gifts to my daughter."

Kyoko walked a few steps in front of the stage while cuddling I-Pin in her arms. The two supposedly fairies then came out and I could hear the girls squealing with delight as soon they saw Gokudera.

Wait, where was Lambo?

"As your right-hand- I mean, as the fairy godfather, I shall present the tenth's daughter- no, present Your Highness's princess with the most beautiful look she will get," Gokudera then swung his wand once as if he was in the fencing tournament.

"I shall present Your Highness's daughter with the most beautiful voice so that she can sing it for everyone~!" Haru waved her wand gracefully with her bright smile.

"Before the third fairy could say anything, here comes...the evilest wizard to ruin the party," Bianchi made her tone even creepier and scarier while reading out her script. The smokescreen was surrounding the stage and I heard a very loud voice coming from the stage.

"I, THE MOST EXTREMELY EVIL WIZARD OF ALL TIME, SHALL RUIN THE GRAND DAY FOR TODAY!!" Ryohei's voice was way too loud and the audiences had to shut their ears tightly. He then pointed his finger straight at Tsuna with a fiery look. "Sawada Tsunayoshi!! How dare you not inviting me to your grand day of yours?!"

"M-Me??" Tsuna's facial expression nearly twitched when Ryohei called out his name instead of his proper role. "It's not that I don't want to invite you. First off, you're evil and another thing, I don't even know where are you staying."

"I don't care! As a punishment, I shall place a curse on your daughter! Once she reaches her age of sixteen, she will be pricked by a spindle and die! Take that, Sawada!!" Ryohei laughed mockingly before he waved his staff roughly in front of them and disappeared from the stage.

"Tsuna, our daughter has been cursed to death. What shall we do?" Kyoko then gave a sad look.

"Well, I-I'm figuring out how to solve this problem, Kyoko."

We ended up using our names instead of our character names. Another guy around Tsuna's age came into the stage and I did not know who was that. He had messy black hair and he was wearing a cow print shirt that matched his black suit. He was oddly familiar.

"Hello there, young Vongola. You look pretty good with that costume you're wearing," the unknown teenage guy spoke out.

"A-adult Lambo, did you just- I mean, what are you doing here anyway??" the brunette asked quickly. Did he just say adult Lambo?

"Of course I am here to give one last gift to your cute little princess," adult Lambo replied and gave his most charming look while waving his wand. "She will not die but to sleep eternally. Only one person who truly loves her will break this sleeping spell."

The girls squealed even louder and they were dying to know who was that guy. Bianchi was showing her malice look and this probably had frightened adult Lambo. He gave a short bow and quickly ran off from the stage. He was lucky because Bianchi had to continue with her storytelling instead of chasing him.

She went on narrating where the king had ordered his men to burn every single wooden spindle in the town to keep his daughter safe. Because of that, the princess had never seen a spindle in her whole life until she reached the age of sixteen.

I took a deep breath and I slowly walked into the stage. For my role as the princess, I was wearing a [colour] dress Kyoko lent it to me and I was looking at the wooden spindle with curiosity and admiration. The whole school gym was quiet and I could see Yamamoto watching me from his seat. 

Hibari was nowhere around, I could have guessed it.

I need to touch the sharp edge of the spindle and pretended that I got pricked. I did touch that part and I felt a sudden cut from my finger.

I flinched with pain and more blood coming out from my finger. The audiences gasped with horror and Yamamoto knew something was off. Tsuna and others were alarmed because they knew this was not supposed to happen. I quickly collapsed onto the stage floor and we were then prepared for the next scene. Tsuna and Gokudera came to me with a hurry and checked my bloodied finger.

"[Name]! Are you alright??" the brunette asked worriedly.

"I'm fine...is this supposed to happen??" I replied with my pained look.

"No, this is not supposed to happen," the silver-haired replied. "Looks like someone wanted you dead just like our last rehearsal."

"Geez, don't say like that to [Name]," Haru frowned at him while cleaning my cut wound. "This cut is pretty deep. Who brought that harmful wooden spindle?"

"We had this wooden spindle from our school history gallery and we had asked the permission to borrow it," Kyoko explained. "It was completely safe to use for our skit."

"Well, someone had sabotaged this spindle," Reborn commented while he looked at the spindle closely. "There's a small knife inside it and it will pop out once someone touches this spindle."

"Who the hell wanted to harm [Name]?? She didn't do anything wrong!" Tsuna retorted.

"C-calm down, Tenth. We are still unsure why but we need to put that aside. We need to continue until the end," Gokudera replied.

"He's right. We'll finish our skit and we can think about that later. Whoever is done with their roles, I need you to keep an eye on [Name]," suggested Reborn.

Until now, none of us knew who would be the one taking over Yamamoto's place. I was peeking to watch the prince charming's arrival at the castle.

There was a guy with a mask covering the middle part of his face. Several audiences whispering with interest as they did not know who was that guy. He was facing Ryohei who continued to taunt to provoke him. Feeling much annoyed, the masked prince raised something in a speed of light and ran towards the other to give him harsh blows.

"W-wait!" Ryohei was in shock while trying his best to dodge that guy's attack. "Are you seriously trying to beat me, H-?!"

That guy just punched across his cheek and Ryohei stumbled on the stage floor. My eyes slowly widened and I had the feeling that I knew who was that masked guy. I could not believe it. I quickly climbed onto the table and pretended to sleep as what I should do. The gym was quiet once again and I heard someone pushing the curtain aside.

The footsteps were coming closer. I kept my eyes shut tightly. I was getting nervous.

It was the part where the prince was supposed to kiss the princess to break the sleeping spell. Yamamoto was feeling awkward when he knew about that part until Reborn suggested that he could just peck on my cheeks if he was uncomfortable. This was another person. Was he seriously going to?

I felt someone grasping my hand and he was touching my bandaged finger. When I felt like he was close enough, I accidentally opened my eyes and I could see that same dark grey eyes from the mask he was wearing. So close that our nose touched and he was whispering.

"Time to wake up, princess."

He did not hesitate further as he placed his lips on mine firmly, deepening the kiss. I was way too shocked to do anything and he knew it. He soon broke the kiss and carefully pulled me to stand up. The whole audiences clapped their hands rather loudly and were cheering for our performance. Tsuna and others were at least proud as we managed to get our skit done.

Kyoko and Haru were so excited and had been asking me about that masked guy. My face was still so red and I felt like I was getting a sudden fever.

It was such an embarrassment, getting my first kiss in front of everyone.

* * *

"Well, we will never learn who is the one trying to harm [Name]," Ryohei commented as he helped packing up the things.

"Or more like, there's nothing bad happen during the kissing scene. The attacker seems to be afraid of getting caught by that head prefect," Gokudera replied.

"I just can't believe that Reborn would ask Hibari-san to take over Yamamoto's place. I mean, he hates crowds. Why he would agree to do it with us?" Tsuna asked curiously.

"Who knows?" Yamamoto said shortly. "We are the only ones who know it is him all along."

I noticed that Yamamoto had been a little quiet after our performance. He was usually excited when we were doing the skit so well.

"Yamamoto, are you alright?" I asked.

"Huh?" he blinked. "Oh, of course, I'm doing fine. Why do you ask?"

"You're kind of quiet a little. I thought something is bothering you."

"...[Name], may I ask you something?"

"Hm? What is it?"

"I'm wondering if you-"

"Oi, Yamamoto, [Last Name]!! We're going to Sawada's house to celebrate our skit's success! Hurry up!" Ryohei called out loudly.

"We're coming!" Yamamoto responded and he grinned at me. "We better not be late for the party. Let's go."

"W-wait, Yamamoto. Didn't you want to ask something earlier?"

"Haha, sorry. I forgot."

"...huh??"

"It's not important anyway. Shall we go to Tsuna's house? Or you have your part-time job to do?"

"...I'll come along. My 'boss' already permit me to take a short break," I smiled looking at Yamamoto.

"Good to hear that."


	9. festival

I had been trying to find a proper excuse to not attending the swimming class and it got worse when Kyoko and Hana had been saying that they will teach me how to swim.

Aside from not being able to swim, there was another reason why I did not want to swim. Right after I was adopted by my parents, they noticed a few torture scars on my body. It was not visible but I often wear any clothes that could cover those scars. I could not remember where I got them and my adoptive parents suspected that I had been badly abused when I was a child.

"We will help you, [Name]. It is only a few simple steps and you can swim properly," said Kyoko. "My brother was the one who taught me how to swim when we were younger."

"Just some basic movements and you're going to be fine," Hana commented. "I heard that if any of the boys don't even know how to swim, they are going to have swimming lessons with the girls."

"I wonder who is that unlucky guy," I gave an awkward smile. "Anyway, I'll try."

"Great! We'll meet up at the public swimming pool tomorrow. Maybe I can ask Haru-chan to join us," Kyoko's face brightened. "Hey, [Name]. Can I ask you something?"

"Sure, go ahead," I replied while taking another bite of my bread.

"Who is that guy behind the mask he was wearing during our skit?"

I flinched and I thought that I had accidentally bitten my tongue. Kyoko's sudden question made me remember the time when Hibari kissed me in front of the audience. Even after that skit, that skylark did not say anything about that scene. He only told me that Reborn was the one asking him to take over Yamamoto's place as the prince charming.

"Uhh, I-I have no idea who is it..." I muttered and I tried to avoid her eye contact. My face was getting redder at the same time.

"It's fine. We'll keep it a secret," Hana smirked at me. "If you don't know who is that guy, you would not let anyone kiss you that way."

"Hana is right, even Yamamoto still feel awkward to kiss on your cheeks," added Kyoko.

"...fine. Promise that you will keep it secret from anyone," I let out a deep sigh and I knew that someday I could not hide it from everyone. "That masked guy is the demonic Head of Disciplinary Committee."

Both Hana and Kyoko froze with shock and it took them three seconds to realise who was I referring to.

"Do you mean...Hibari Kyoya?"

"...yes.."

"What the? From all of the boys here, he's the one who takes over Yamamoto's role??" Hana nearly shrieked with surprise.

"I can't believe it! No wonder my big brother looked alarmed when the prince charming suddenly attacked him with no mercy."

"I-I don't know anything! I just only realise it was him after he was done beating up your brother," I was getting more embarrassed.

"In that case, when did you start your relationship with him?" Hana asked curiously.

"W-we're not a couple, Hana-san! I am just his handmaiden-!"

"Eh?" Kyoko gasped. "His handmaiden??"

"Damn, I slipped..." I spoke with a lower tone.

"No wonder you've been busy lately. You're working for that head prefect," Hana's smile grew wider.

"It's some sort of a punishment for breaking the school rules on my first day of school, so I have to be his handmaiden. I assist him and I do the housekeeping at his house. That's all."

"Now that is everyone's nightmare to work for this guy," Hana commented. "Are you sure that you only look at him as your boss or something?"

I went silent. I was in deep thought. Hana was half right about it. When I became Hibari's handmaiden, I only looked at him as my scary 'boss'. I slowly realised that whenever I got hurt, he was extremely worried. When he was the one who got hurt, I worry even more.

"I don't know..." I answered. "He is like...someone who is important to me."

"Important to you?"

"Yeah, since I knew him when we were young-

We heard a loud crash outside our classroom and we saw someone just dropped the trash can. I stood up to check and I saw Mizushima Risako knelt to pick up the trash can with her embarrassed look.

"Mizushima-san? What are you doing here?" I asked.

"O-oh, nothing!" Risako smiled sheepishly. "I just pass by here and I accidentally dropped my classroom's trash can. Sorry for disturbing."

"I'm glad you're not hurt," I sighed.

"So, is it true? Hibari Kyoya was the one who kissed you on the stage?"

"What the-? You heard every single thing I said??"

"I-I just want to know who is your prince charming since Yamamoto Takeshi was not able to perform the skit," Risako answered excitedly.

"I am deeply hoping that you're not going around the whole school area to tell the students about this news."

I was getting a little annoyed with this girl. Eavesdropping? That was not okay for me.

"Why not? They wanted to know, right?"

"Unless you want to get 'killed' by that head prefect."

Risako's eyes widened and she seemed to get hurt by my statement. Or was she feeling angry? She just lowered her head and walked away from my classroom's area.

What was wrong with that girl? I thought she was happy because Yamamoto could not have the chance to kiss me.

* * *

"Aren't you supposed to go to the summer festival?"

I blinked and I stared at the elder man who was standing nearby the kitchen's door. I was nearly done washing the dishes and I never thought of going to the summer festival. I heard that Tsuna and his friends would be at there to sell something so that they could pay the damage they had done in the public swimming pool.

"Um, maybe I don't feel like going. I have some other work to do," I answered.

"You're afraid to get some scoldings from my grandson for finishing your job halfway, right?"

"...I am about to say that," I smiled awkwardly.

"It's fine. He's allowing you to go. You may leave some unfinished work for another time."

"But, is it okay if I go there with my casual clothes?

"You don't have a yukata?"

I shook my head and I did not remember having a yukata in my whole life. It was only when my mother would borrow it from one of her closest relatives. Satoshi-san gave a small smile and he gestured me to follow him to his room. When he started to bring out some things from his room storage, I quickly helped him until he found a large rectangular box. He placed the box down and opened it before he gently took out a light violet yukata with some blue flower patterns on it.

"I will let you have this yukata, miss [Last Name]. This once belonged to Kyoya's mother."

"W-what?" my eyes widened. "I-I can't take it. I mean, I feel like I do not have the right to wear this important memento."

"You're right. This yukata is my daughter-in-law's favourite clothes. The last time she wore it was when she brought Kyoya to the summer festival years ago before she died. He did not want this yukata to be given away to someone else, so I had been keeping it until now."

The elder's face was as emotionless as Hibari but I did see his eyebrows furrowed once.

"Sato-san, I did not mean to be so rude, but...is it true that his mother died? Or something bad happened to her?"

"How did you know that?"

"Senior Kusakabe once told me that it was his father who died. He never mentioned his mother."

Both of us were looking at each other and he was quite surprised that I knew he was hiding something.

"I can tell you what exactly happened to my daughter-in-law, miss [Last Name]. You must promise me one thing."

"Okay, I will."

* * *

Satoshi-san and I left the house as we walked together to the Namimori shrine. There were many people at the festival and there were enjoying themselves. I was a little embarrassed with some people kept on staring at the yukata I was wearing. Though they were admiring it and wondering where they could find it. That was when I passed by a stall that sells chocolate bananas and the ones who were standing in the stall was Tsuna, Gokudera and Yamamoto.

"[Name]! Is that you?" Tsuna asked with his surprised look.

"Tsuna? What are you doing here?" I asked too.

"Ah, we are selling choco-bananas here," Tsuna smiled nervously. "Well, to pay off the damage we made at the swimming pool that day."

"I thought you're working as a part-time lifeguard to pay for that damage," I replied.

"It'll be enough if we add to this business sales," Tsuna added. "Thanks to I-Pin's help, we left only a box of bananas to sell. If we can sell it fast, we can go and watch the fireworks with others."

"Hey, [Name], want to join us? It will be fun to watch the fireworks together," said Yamamoto brightly.

I was about to agree when I had forgotten that I was with Satoshi-san. He was already walking off to another stall and only nodded his head once at me. He probably was telling me that I could join my friends.

"Sure, I'll be waiting for all of you."

We agreed to meet up soon and I wandered off to the shrine alone. As I was about to sit at the shrine's wooden stairs, I felt like someone was behind me. I quickly turned around and I saw a random guy approaching me with a smirk on his face.

"We meet again, missy. Remember me at the swimming pool?"

I did not want to remember this perverted guy. He was trying to disturb me when I was at the public swimming pool. Kyoko and Hana were away to get some drinks at the same time. When he thought that it was fine to drag me with him, Hibari did come and hit him harshly.

The worst thing was I did not see that skylark around.

"W-what are you doing here?" I asked nervously.

"I'm kind of bored, so I come here all by myself. How lucky I am to see a pretty girl here," he began to approach me slowly. "Don't be afraid, I won't hurt you. I think your boyfriend is way too busy to save you."

I froze and I did not know what to do. Once that guy grabbed my wrist tightly, I immediately kicked right at his weakest spot. He howled in pain and I took this chance to use my elbow to hit on his back. Lastly, I grabbed his shirt collar tightly and threw him straight to the nearest tree.

I hope it was enough to make him unconscious rather than he got 'murdered' with my own hands.

"You did great, herbivore."

I turned to look around and to my surprise, Hibari was standing nearby the tree with a smirk on his face.

"Hibari-san??"

"Nice kick you give," Hibari slowly approaching and then stood right in front of me. His smirk broke into a small smile before he tucked my hair lock behind my ears. "And you look very stunning tonight."

"S-Sato-san lent me this yukata to me," I stuttered and my face was blushing. "He told me that it was your mother's favourite clothes and you don't want to give it to anyone."

Is that so?" he added and he gently placed a soft kiss on my forehead. "Since it suits you well, perhaps I can give it to you as White Day's gift."

"Huh?? For real? I don't deserve to have this-"

"Why? You don't like it?"

"N-no! I didn't say that I don't like it!"

"I'm glad to hear that."

The fireworks were soon displayed and both of us turned to look at it. The night sky was decorated with colourful lights of fireworks. I was about to go and join the others to watch but Hibari pulled me closer to him much to my surprise. He was still looking at the sky but I could tell that he did not want to watch it alone. There was no way he would want to join Tsuna and others since there were crowds.

If that was what he wanted, I eventually stay by his side and watch the firework display together. I admit that this was probably the best summer season I ever experienced.


	10. ring

"Hey, guess what? I heard that Tsuna's father had just returned from overseas."

"Really? He didn't mention anything about his father."

I was taking a short break from doing some housekeeping work and Kyoko was calling me at that time. She knew that I could not join Tsuna and others to spend their free time in the town. I kind of guessing that Yamamoto was the one asking why I was not joining them earlier.

"No need to worry, [Name]. I didn't tell them that you're working at someone's house. But still, when are you going to tell them?"

"I'm still not sure about it. It's just my so-called part-time job to earn some money for myself."

I was feeling rather troubled as I did not mean to be a little selfish for not telling Tsuna and others about my job as a handmaiden. Probably because it was just between me and Hibari, maybe they might not need to know.

"Maybe someday, I'll tell. Or just wait for the time where they will find out by themselves. By the way, I thought you're still around the town with them."

"A long-haired man is attacking that town. It's dangerous and Reborn told us to go home fast. Tsuna and others were still there handling that man."

"Huh?" I blinked. "All of a sudden?"

"Yeah, but I guess it's over now. All of us are safe."

Kyoko's statement about that sudden attack in town was telling me it was bad news. I was nearly forgetting about the Kokuyo incident and another one was coming. So, Tsuna and his friends got involved again? 

I was hoping that they were not badly hurt just like that time.

* * *

It was four in the morning and it was still dark. I arrived at Hibari's house and I saw a tall figure standing outside the house. If that was a robber, I may need to give him a clap for his courageous act to steal something in the skylark's house. I came nearer and the tall figure turned to look at me. It was a blond-haired man in his late thirties and he looked like a construction worker to me.

"Sir, do you have any business with the owner of this house?"

"Frankly, yes," the man smiled brightly. "An important business, I must say. Do you live here?"

"N-no, I'm working here as a hand- I mean, a housekeeper."

"Housekeeper? Still pretty young for you to do a part-time job," he grinned. "Will it be alright if I want to meet a certain person named Hibari Kyoya?"

"At this time??" I quickly looked at my watch. "He's still asleep and I would be dead for waking him up too early!"

"Too bad. Then can you please do me a favour?"

"What favour?"

The blond-haired man took out an envelope from his pocket and he passed it to me. As I took it, there was something small and round inside the envelope. I wonder what it was.

"I want you to pass this envelope to that kid. Remember, it is very important and he must take it."

My eyebrow raised suspiciously as I kept on staring at him.

"At least you should tell me who you are so that it will be easier for me to tell him about this envelope."

"I'm just a friendly construction worker in Namimori district."

"What the heck-"

Before I could ever ask further, that blond-haired man was already walking off away from the house. I was so confused and now I had no idea how to explain. I went into the house and my uniform sleeve just got caught with something, causing me to drop the envelope on the ground. A strange-looking ring fell out of the envelope. I quickly picked up the envelope and the ring as well.

Once my finger touched the ring, I felt strange. As if I had a sudden electric shock. I got the feeling that the ring was trying to talk to me.

Because I heard a small faint voice coming from that ring.

"Herbivore, what are you doing out there?"

I flinched and I immediately stood up. The skylark was already awake and his hair was quite messy. His tired face made me think that he was cute that way. He was frowning at me and I was giving my nervous smile at him.

"M-morning, Hibari-san..." I greeted. "Am I late for work?"

"It'll be later if you are planning to stand there for a longer time."

"Sorry, I'll prepare breakfast!" I quickly answered. "Oh, here's the envelope for you. A man told me that it's important and he wanted you to see it."

"Who is that man?"

"I don't know, he looks like a construction worker."

"Then, there's no reason for me to see it."

"W-wait, you need to!"

"And why is that?"

"...there's a strange-looking ring inside the envelope. Don't you want to know what is that thing?"

Hibari was not giving any response but he did take the envelope to check the ring and the letter further. He went straight back to his room while I resumed my work before I continued to walk to school.

That soft voice I heard from that ring earlier...why I felt like I heard it before? Why would I think about it?

I ended up bumping into Gokudera just outside the school clinic. He turned to look at me with his annoyed look.

"Watch where you're going, idiot woman!" he retorted.

"Idiot woman? Then should I call you Ahodera then??" I replied sarcastically and that pissed him off. We kept on glaring at each other until an unknown drunken man slid the door open to see what was happening.

"What is all the fuss here? What are you two doing here in front of the clinic?" the man slurred with that perverted grin on his face.

"I need your favour," Gokudera asked with his serious tone.

"Ah, I see. If you ever want to flirt, I suggest that you should make the first move by groping them."

I yelped in shock and moved away from both of them.

"What the heck?! Gokudera, I never knew you're that kind of person!"

"Wait, I'm not doing that!" the silver-haired's face blushed in embarrassment. He turned to look at the doctor and retorted. "I didn't ask you to teach me that stuff!"

"Then what is it, Hayato? I don't treat men but I don't mind if that friend of yours wants me to help her."

Why would the school ever accept him as the school doctor?

"I want you to be my home-tutor, just like that time."

Everything went silent when Gokudera asking that doctor be his home-tutor. I was completely confused and I still did not understand what was going on.

"Sorry, I am not going to be a kid's bodyguard," the doctor finally answered.

"I will do anything. That important battle is about to start ten days by now, so please..."

"I refuse, and I don't even care about it. Go and find someone else," the doctor said before he walked away. Gokudera clenched his fists in anger and he dashed off towards the stairs, leaving me alone in the corridor.

Not only Gokudera was absent from school. I did not see Tsuna and Yamamoto around. Kyoko was convinced that they were fine yesterday.

* * *

I cleared up the lunch boxes from the desk and placing them back in the paper bag. Hibari had just taken his lunch and his attention once again fell onto the ring I gave to him earlier. I wanted to ask if he knew anything about that ring until I heard a knock at the Disciplinary office's door. I opened the door and I yelped in surprise to see some men in the black suit in front of me. They looked scary and a young man with blonde hair came over with his apologetic look.

"Sorry for the fright, miss," he responded as he smiled at me. "I hear that Hibari Kyoya is always in this room. May I come in to see him?"

This young man had a deep Italian accent when he spoke. Not forget to mention that he was a good looking one. I began to think if he came from a rich family. Those men behind him maybe his bodyguards with scary faces.

"Um, sure..." I answered awkwardly. "And you are?"

"I'm Dino Cavallone, from Italy," He tilted his head, smiling as he gently took my hand to kiss, much to my surprise. "Nice to meet you, miss-"

"I'm [Full Name], you may call me [Name]," I introduced myself and I only could give a small smile because I felt embarrassed.

"What a nice name you have, [Name]. Say, do you happened to be Hibari Kyoya's secretary?"

Before I could say something, Hibari had just grabbed my hand away from Dino and he was glaring sharply at him.

"What did you do to her, herbivore?"

"Whoa, please calm down here," Dino gulped looking at Hibari's reaction. "I'm just kissing her hand as to say hello."

"No one can kiss my handmaiden without my permission," Hibari added coldly. One of those bodyguards suddenly laughed at his statement.

"B-boss, that kid called his girlfriend, a handmaiden."

Dino chuckled when he heard about it. As soon he noticed that Hibari had just narrowed his eyes, feeling very irritated, Dino quickly cleared up his throat and looked at his bodyguard.

"Ivan, I don't think it it is wise to laugh at him just because he mentioned that the young lady is his handmaiden. Besides, I have something to settle up with Tsuna's chosen Cloud Guardian," Dino then turned to look at Hibari. "I do believe that you have the Cloud ring on your hands, right, Kyoya?"

"You mean this?" Hibari took out a strange ring and held it out to let Dino had a clearer view.

"Well, that should do it. For the time being, I'll be your home-tutor and I'll train you to become stronger for the upcoming battle. You're not the only one get involved in this battle though. Tsuna and his other friends have their home-tutor as well and are now in training."

Was that the reason why Gokudera asked that doctor to be his home-tutor for the upcoming battle like Dino had explained? So Tsuna and Yamamoto were absent because of this battle and it must have something to do with the ring. Hibari turned to look at me and I nearly forgot that he was still holding my hand.

"You can dismiss for now. Straight go to my house and do your work."

"Hibari-san, how about you and him-"

"I'll deal with him. Try not to get involved with it."

* * *

I packed my books inside my school bag and later leave the school. I was already out from the school gate when Haru called me from behind and I turned to look at her.

"Hey, [Name]-chan, do you have free time today?" Haru asked while panting.

"I might have to do something else. Is there anything I can do for you?"

"Ah, can you please follow me? I have been preparing some food for Tsuna-san but his mother tells me that he and Reborn already going out. I'm not sure where they are until I hear that he is having some sort of hardcore training in the forest," Haru explained and I just only noticed that she was holding some lunch boxes.

"Yeah, I would like to see him too. Let us go and find him."

Haru nodded in agreement. I need to see Tsuna so that I could get a bigger picture of what had happened to them recently. Both of us made our way to the forest and that was when Haru saw someone from far.

"Hey, [Name]. Is that Gokudera?"

I blinked and I was looking at the direction where Haru had seen him. Gokudera merely stood where he was and he was hurt all over his body. Haru yelled even louder but he seemed to ignore it. She grumbled, turning to look at me.

"I don't know what is wrong with him," she grumbled. "He didn't respond when I called out to him."

"Maybe he could not hear you since both of us are far away from him," I concluded. I was thinking that he still felt disappointed after that doctor rejected his request. "I know, how about I I check on him. You go on and see Tsuna."

Haru nodded and made her way to look for the brunette. I went inside the forest and I managed to get a closer look at him. Before I could try to call him, someone was already behind me and placed their hand on my shoulder. I turned around in shock to see the doctor and this time, his face was serious.

"Just let him be. Looks like he hadn't been learning what is the most important thing he must know whenever he fights," he said while frowning at Gokudera.

"Who exactly are you? You don't look like a doctor to me."

"I'm Dr Shamal. You do have a good observation here."

"Thanks. Shamal-san, what is exactly happening here? Most of my friends are having some sort of training with their home-tutor for the battle. Even Hibari-san has one, though he never asked for one."

"I'm not sure if I should tell you about it," Dr Shamal answered.

"Okay, it's fine. Why you rejected Gokudera's request of having you to be his home-tutor?"

"I knew Bianchi and Hayato when both were kids. More like, I often visited them in Italy. Bianchi showed some potential as a dangerous assassin but many mafias look down on Hayato and most of them that he should be a pianist. He wanted to change his fate, so he copied every style I had. While he wanted me to teach him how to master my skills, I suggested that he should use dynamite instead. He thought it was old-fashioned, so I proved to him how useful it was and he was amazed."

He let out a loud sigh while still watching Gokudera's reckless training.

"What disappoints me is that he keeps on hurting himself when he is fighting against someone. Unless he realised that life is more important than anything, I'll still refuse to be his home-tutor."

I remembered Gokudera got injured hurt during the Kokuyo incident months ago. He first got poisoned by that four-eyed guy and then got wounded by that dirty blonde guy. No wonder Tsuna would always worried whenever Gokudera was hurt.

Even how strong and invincible Hibari was, I could not help myself worrying about him. Getting hurt after defeating Mukuro, I could not imagine what will happen next for the upcoming battle.


	11. brother

"[Last Name]! Why you did not complete your Maths homework?!"

I jumped in shock as I heard my Maths teacher yelled at me. I nervously looked up to him. All my classmates looked at me with their surprised look. Tsuna, Kyoko and Yamamoto were worried about my situation. I stood up slowly before I answered the question.

"I-I forgot..."

"Forgot? How come you can finish the other homework but not mine? Have you been playing more than finishing homework??"

"I-I have been busy with a part-time job lately."

"Part-time job?? You're only a middle school student, not a high school student! What brings you to the level that you have to do a part-time job??"

"I-I just want to..."

"I don't care, you will need to quit that job and focus on your homework! As a punishment, you will need to finish up all the questions from page five to ten! I need it by tomorrow!"

That Maths teacher loved to humiliate me in front of everyone. I hated Maths and I did not bother trying to finish up that damn homework. Plus, Hibari was not at home for these few days. He was not in school either and senior Kusakabe was the one who patrolled the school area.

I was very frustrated and some of my classmates thought that our teacher was being so unreasonable. Tsuna and Yamamoto offered to help me but because they needed to focus on their important battle, I told them that I will try to handle my problem.

I spent most of the time finishing all the homework in the library after school hours. The library was quiet. The quietness made me felt even sleepier. I was still going to finish it when I felt like someone was watching me.

"Hey, [Name]. You're not supposed to sleep in the library~"

I recognise that cheeky voice and I almost groaned. I rubbed my tired eyes and I turned to look at Mizushima Risako. She was holding some books in her arms.

"What are you doing here, Mizushima-san?"

"Returning books, of course," she replied and quickly took a seat beside me, staring at my Maths homework. "Wow, lots of questions you need to solve."

"Your words are not helping me at all."

"S-sorry, I didn't mean to. Why not just ask your boyfriend to solve it for you?"

"He's not around-" I turned to look at her. "Who are you talking about??"

"Your prince charming, of course," she winked. "You look pretty close to him."

"Hibari-san is not my boyfriend! I am just helping him to deal with school stuff, that's all!"

"Really? Is it true?"

I still did not know why she was highly interested in me and Hibari. All I knew that I was not going to finish my Maths questions if I still talked to her. I stood up from my seat and Mizushima was looking up at me.

"Where are you going?"

"To the washroom. I need to wash my sleepy face."

I stepped out from the library, leaving all my schoolwork behind. I turned at one corner until I suddenly bumped into someone. I looked up and it was just a young man with raven hair. He was wearing some sort of traveller clothes. He simply smiled at me before he spoke with his deep, mature voice.

"Hello there, [Name]. You still look the same, just like the last time I saw you when I was younger."

When I looked closer to him, I realised that he was an adult Lambo. Only that he looked much older.

"Are you...Lambo? You looked much older."

"You're right. I am already twenty years old in my own time. I would have guessed that my younger selves had used the Ten-Year-Bazooka twice. That is why I am here, only for temporary."

"I see," I chuckled and I learnt about Lambo's 'magical' bazooka after the skit performance. "Say, how about your life at your distant future time?"

Right when he showed his sad smile, I knew I should not ask him. He placed both of his hands on my shoulders gently.

"[Name]. Whatever happens, you must treasure all of your most precious memories. Everything you ever remembered. Your friends, your family and the one whom you truly loved the most. Believe me."

I blinked in surprise. Before I could ask further, the twenty-year-old Lambo had been switched back with the five-year-old. He had no idea what was going on and had been asking for more sweets from me.

Why would he say that to me? Did something bad happen in the future?

I still did not receive any news from Hibari and it had been ten days he was not at home. His grandfather did not ask me about his grandson as if he knew what he had been doing. For all those days, I was able to return home earlier. I was on my way and I saw Gokudera standing outside my apartment.

"You finally back from your part-time job?"

"Yeah, and what are you doing here?"

"Did you finish all your Maths questions?"

"I...I'm still on my way to finish it..." I mumbled. "Why are you asking about that?"

Gokudera did not say anything and he passed me some papers with all the Maths' solutions and answers. I kept on looking at him curiously and he spoke up, without looking at me.

"Tenth has been worrying about you after you get scolded by that assh*le teacher. He and that baseball freak want to help you badly, so..."

"Y-you write all these for me??"

"D-don't you misunderstand, woman! This is for treating my injuries during the Kokuyo incident and I could not find a chance to say thanks!"

Even his tone was rather harsh, I smiled gratefully at him for his great help. I took those papers from him before I replied to his statement.

"Still, thank you so much, Gokudera. Can you please tell Tsuna and Yamamoto that I appreciate their concern?"

"I'll tell..." the silver-haired said shortly.

"Oh, another thing."

"What else?"

"Good luck, and please take good care of yourself during the battle."

* * *

I happened to pass by the school during the heavy rain that night and I did not expect the battle turned out to be brutal. Tsuna and others came out from the school gate while he was carrying a heavily injured Lambo. Bruises everywhere and I was stunned looking at his condition.

"Tsuna, what happened to Lambo?" I asked in a low tone.

"He...well, he got struck by a lightning...and we are on the way to the hospital-"

"You're not getting that serious injury from a bolt of lightning, you know," I replied.

"There's no use lying to [Name]. She already knew about the battle," Reborn commented.

"B-but we didn't tell her anything, right?" Tsuna asked nervously.

"You didn't realise that she was the one who passed the Cloud Ring to Hibari. At the same time, she knew that Dino was the one to train that troublesome guy for the upcoming battle," Reborn answered.

"Look, I do not want [Name] to join this dangerous mafia game of yours," the brunette added.

"Sounds like you don't know much about her, Tsuna."

"Are you trying to say that [Name] is already involved with the mafia stuff?"

"Who knows? Maybe she was in the mafia without her knowledge."

My eyes widened a little when I heard of Reborn's statement. Gokudera was glaring at me and started to be suspicious. Reborn soon looked up and spoke to me.

"You don't need to worry about that, [Name]. I've been observing you for a while and you don't show any signs of becoming the Vongola's threat."

"How can you be sure that I'm...not a threat?"

"I have someone in my mind to confirm that you are innocent. But let's put that aside. Can you please do us a favour by sending Lambo to the hospital? We'll be at there after we are done with something."

I nodded and I carried the unconscious Lambo in my arms. I was walking to the nearest private hospital and it hurt me a lot to find out that Lambo was nearly killed by his ruthless opponent. The doctors were quick enough to bring him to the emergency room and it took them some time for them to confirm that he was in a safe zone.

Tsuna's mother arrived along with her son and his friends. She was also curious about Lambo's current condition and Tsuna was unable to explain the whole situation. I ended up telling her that he was struck by a lightning and I could be the witness. It was lucky that she believed what I said and Tsuna did thank me for helping him to keep the Ring battle a secret.

I returned home that night and I saw a small note on my table. I picked it up and read what it was written.

_**Meet me at the school grounds at 10 p.m. I will tell you more about your past and your involvement with the mafia.** _

I flinched once I was done reading the note. Who else knew more about my past? Not my adoptive parents. They knew nothing. Then, who else?

* * *

I soon arrived at the school grounds as what the note had told me to. I noticed a shadow behind the large tree. It signalled me to come over. I went towards the tree and I saw a girl with a black eye-patch covering her right eye.

"Were you the one who wrote that note for me?" I asked and the girl nodded shyly, indicating as yes.

"My name is...Chrome Dokuro. Are you [Full Name]?"

For some reason, that was the first time I heard a strange name from that girl named Chrome.

"That's my name. Wait, how did you know my name?" I asked curiously. At the same time, two people appeared behind the tree and I yelped in shock. "A-aren't both of you supposed to be in the prison?!"

"That doesn't matter, wimpy girl. Someone wants to discuss things with you and it's important," said the bespectacled guy as he pushed back his glasses.

"Yeah, you better remember every single thing 'cause he had been going through all this just for you," said another guy with dirty blonde hair.

Before I could argue, Chrome was surrounded by a mysterious mist. As the mist faded, she was replaced by someone else. It was another guy with blue hair and heterochromia eyes. The same person I had met in the Kokuyo area and I could feel the intimidating aura of him. He smirked at me and I was completely confused before he started to talk.

"[Name], we finally meet once again."

"W-who are you? And what happened to Chrome?" I asked nervously.

"I've taken her place for a moment just to see you," the guy with heterochromia eyes came nearer and lifted my chin gently to look closer at my face. "Looks like your adoptive parents raised you so well. I'm thankful for their help."

"W-what is that supposed to mean?" I was feeling rather uneasy.

"Oh, why are you afraid of your brother, [Name]?"

"...b-brother?? I- don't think I have a brother!" I retorted.

"Hey, show some respect to Mukuro!" the blonde-haired yelled at me with anger.

"Mukuro??" my eyebrows furrowed. "Rokudo Mukuro, the one who hurt my friends and Hibari-san??"

"Just please, listen to me-"

"I don't get it! If you are my brother, why would you leave me for someone else to take care of me?!"

"[Name], I have to do that because I have no choice," Mukuro explained. "Right after the fall of the Estraneo Famiglia, the four of us had to run somewhere else. I knew that we will be hunted down and I do not want you to be in danger. So I have to leave you at the airport with a married couple, hoping that they will adopt you as their child."

"...for all this time, I'm already involved with the mafia? As what Reborn had suspected?"

"You are but not a part of it. You are a victim of an evil society or better known as mafia. The same thing goes to the three of us."

I nearly cried after hearing the real truth of my identity. Whether I was a victim or not, I was still coming from a mafia family who hurt my friends and Hibari. If Tsuna and others knew about it, will they hate me for it?

"...please, leave me alone..."

"...[Name]-"

I quickly walked away from them and I did not know what to do next. I could not possibly face Tsuna after knowing the whole truth. I wanted to leave the school until I was being surrounded by a group of men with a black coat attached with a lightning armband. Their hands were holding odd-looking swords and they were not as 'friendlier' as Dino's bodyguards.

It was indeed bad news. They will not give the Ring battle trespasser a chance.


	12. identity

Since when the school started to hire scary-looking gardeners? It took me a while to realise that the school was used as the Ring battle arena and I was in the school at a very wrong time. I tried to explain to these men that I was only doing my schoolwork but they did not believe me. They were given orders to kill any trespassers in the school.

Whether I stay or run, I would die in their hands. My only choice was to fight against them. I was planning to say thanks to Satoshi-san for willing to teach me how to fight against enemies.

Some of the men approached me in a quick move and I just kept on dodging away from their weapons. One of them was growing impatient and they tried to slash at my direction. I ducked and he ended up destroying some of the school properties.

I bet Hibari was going to be angry for the damaged properties.

At least thanks to that man, I picked up the steel pipe and it was the only good advantage for me to beat up all of them. As they attacked, I dodged in a slower movement and I hit at their back at a fast speed. 

Almost all of them were defeated and some were not giving up. They did not want to lose against a teenage girl. One of them was using his odd-looking sword and I was using my steel pipe to block his sword attacks. When I noticed that another one was going to kill me from behind, I immediately knelt and the two of them were crashing each other. I managed to escape from them until I felt something sharp slashed on my left arm.

I gasped in pain and my white blouse sleeve was soaking with my blood. I gripped my bloodied arm and I was trying to stay away from the other men. The fact that they were not going to leave me alone actually irritated me a lot. I tried to ignore the pain and I used up all my whole strength to beat them up.

I felt like I was at my limit. I knew more of them were coming. Until the skylark finally showed up and defeating those men in a flash.

"Thought I've told you not to get involved."

I weakly looked up at Hibari and he was glancing at me. He did warn me not to get involved in this battle but he was not angry at all. As if he did not mind once I got into this mess.

"...you did great. Get a rest first. I'll take you to the hospital later."

I nodded and I rest against the tree. I was so tired that I wanted to fall asleep. All I could see that he was dealing with those men and entering the school building all by himself.

My eyes were soon closed after I dozed off.

* * *

_"Are you alright? Are you having a bad dream?"_

_"Bad...very bad dream..."_

_"They did it again?"_

_"Yes, I had enough...just stop all these madness..."_

_"...no worries, I'm going to sing a soothing song for you, big brother!"_

_"...is that going to...help me?"_

_"...I-I don't know, but whenever I feel uneasy, my father will sing this song for me. It worked, so why not I give it a try?"_

_"...okay..."_

I was singing for a boy who was having a bad dream. That boy, I called him big brother. Mukuro said that he was my brother. I was sure that we were not related by blood. Probably because he was older than me, so I called him that way.

I wonder why it took me so long to recover all my missing memories. I first remembered Hibari, then Mukuro.

I had been sleeping much longer than usual since it was already afternoon. I was in the hospital room alone and I could see that my wounded arm was covered with a neat bandage. I was in a safer zone but I could not stop thinking after Mukuro told me about my real identity.

"[Name]! You're awake!"

I heard Tsuna's voice and I quickly turned to him. He was not wearing his school uniform, he surely had the training to do. He was giving his relieved look and I saw him holding a basket of fruits.

"Hi, Tsuna," I gave a small smile.

"I'm so glad you're alright. I heard from Dino that you were injured last night," Tsuna explained and he placed the basket on the table. "My mum is the one wants me to give you this right after she heard that you are in the hospital."

"Your mum is nice," I laughed lightly.

"Say, why were you at the school grounds last night? The Cervello made it clear that there were no students or anyone else in the school."

He did not know that Mukuro and his friends were in Namimori and they were the reason why I came to school to see them. My hands were gripping the blanket tightly and I was unsure if I should ask him or not.

"Tsuna, do you still remember Reborn mentioned that I was involved with the mafia?"

"O-of course I do. You're not telling me that you believe what he said??"

"Then, would you and your friends hate me...if I tell you my real background?"

"Eh?? Why would we want to hate you for, [Name]??" Tsuna looked more clueless.

"I-I was coming from the Estraneo Famiglia. I'm one of those children who got experimented," I answered with my strained voice.

"Estraneo Famiglia? D-does that mean, you are with Mukuro and his friends as well?"

"Y-yes..." I found it hard to swallow something in my throat.

"So you're trying to say that we might hate you for being related to Mukuro and that family?"

I nodded nervously. I was going to expect that answer that I did not want to hear.

"I would not hate you for that, [Name]."

"What?? After all the stuff that Mukuro and his friends did to you and our friends, and about Estraneo Famiglia's wrongdoings, you still-"

Tsuna went on to hug me tightly and that left me surprised with his action.

"I first could not forgive Mukuro, Ken and Chikusa because they hurt my friends and everyone just to look for me. As soon I knew about their past, I could not help myself but, to feel that they did not deserve those horrid treatments that the Estraneo Famiglia gave them. You were the victim and you didn't even hurt any of us, so why would I hate you for that?"

I did not say anything and I was listening to every single word he said. There was no hate or negativity. 

"Besides, it's already happened, what is the point of bringing it up? Don't you felt happier for having loving parents and caring friends around?"

Tsuna was genuinely a kind person I ever met. People may look at Tsuna as a useless student but to me, he was a special friend. If it wasn't because of him, I would have continued to feel doubtful about my past.

"You're my friend, and will always be."

"R-really?"

"Yes, even after I've become Vongola Decimo."

"...did you just declare that you will be the next mafia boss??"

"I-I'm not! When I say that?!"

"How can you forget what you say in a few seconds?" I laughed. "Reborn is going to be happy about it."

"Uwahh, it's not like that!" Tsuna was flustered. "I never thought of becoming a part of the mafia!"

The brunette ended up sharing the mafia secret and how he was related to the Vongola Famiglia with me. I was listening and I was amazed that his ancestor was the founder of the family. He also apologised because he mentioned that Mukuro had been looking for him by hurting the students. I did not blame him for that incident.

"I'm glad that we still can be friends but what about Hibari-san? If he knows about my background, will he hate me just like he hated Mukuro?"

"I don't think he will hate you just because you're related to Mukuro," Tsuna blinked and looked at me curiously. "Why are you saying as if both of you know each other?"

"Um, well..." I was a little hesitant to explain. "I've been friends with Hibari-san since we were young."

"Say what?! How come I didn't notice this??"

I was about to reply when we heard the door slide open. It was that same young man with blonde hair and was the one training Hibari for the upcoming Ring battle. He looked pretty tired. He spent more than ten days to train that skylark.

"Hey, Tsuna. I thought you are supposed to have training with Reborn."

"Oh no, I'm late!" the brunette screeched and he turned to look at me. "S-sorry, [Name]! I need to go now, we'll talk next time!"

I wanted to reply and he was already running off from the room. Dino chuckled after looking at Tsuna's reaction before he spoke to me.

"Hello, [Name]. Feeling good or bad?"

"Better than before, it's just a scratch anyway," I smiled. What about you? Shouldn't you get more rest after days of training?"

"Don't worry about me, I'm doing just fine here," Dino replied. "You're not that bad. You can defeat those Varia henchmen. Who taught you how to fight?"

"I asked someone to teach me how to fight. I kind of have a reason for myself."

"Did you do it for Kyoya?"

"H-huh?? What are you talking about??"

"You're such a determined girl, I can see that," he grinned. "Kyoya did not want you to get involved in this battle because he was worried that you might get hurt. After watching you defending yourself from those men, he could worry less for sure."

"He was...watching me?"

"He had returned from his training and the first place he wanted to go was the school."

"Really...?" I gave an angry pout. "I am not surprised. He cares about the school, after all."

"I-I'm sure that he's been thinking of you..." Dino gave a nervous smile. "I'm here to tell you about your wound."

"My wound?"

"That night, you were unconscious because you lose quite a lot of blood. After Kyoya was done dealing with the Varia's henchmen at the school grounds, he went inside the school building. I arrived later and I saw your bleeding arm. I was checking your wound and it was a deep cut. But seconds later, your wound was...slowly healing by itself."

"Healing by itself?"

"I could not believe it but it was happening right in front of my own eyes. Romario saw it too. Before I could inspect further, Kyoya just pushed me away and carried you to the hospital."

I did not say anything and I was in deep thought. I never knew it happened again. I was a reckless child that I often got hurt. Such as falling out from a bicycle, getting a painful cut from a paper, accidentally got hit with a ball and other else. A normal child would cry after getting some bruises but I acted as nothing happened. The pain I had only lasted for a few seconds and I was unaware that all my bruises could heal by itself.

The children from my school were not impressed. They called me a freak and an abnormal little monster. My adoptive parents later transferred me to another school after learning that I was bullied by other children and since then, I avoided getting hurt.

Was it because of the experiment I went through when I was young?

"[Name], I wanted to ask you something important. Something that Reborn and I have been wondering for all this time."

"What do you want to ask?"

"Are you a part of the Estraneo Famiglia? Just like Rokudo Mukuro and his friends?"

I slowly looked up at him and I did not smile. I decided to ask him a question. The same question I gave to Tsuna earlier.

"If I am truly involved with the mafia, would you hate me? Seeing me as your potential enemy?"

"Considering that you did not show any signs of threat, I will not treat you as my enemy. However, I wish to know the exact truth from your mouth."

"I see. The answer is yes. I was a part of the Estraneo Famiglia. Or to be more precise, I was the victim of their horrid experiment."


	13. meeting

I eventually tell Dino all the things I could remember. The childhood years I spent in the Estraneo Famiglia's secret base with Rokudo Mukuro and other unfortunate children, the time when Mukuro had to leave me at the airport with my adoptive parents after we escaped, the time when I was bullied by other normal children because of my strange ability and lastly, my first meeting with Hibari Kyoya when we were young.

The blonde boss listened and he did not show any signs of trying to eliminate me. His concerned eyes were just the same as Tsuna's eyes and he never knew that I had gone through this kind of terrible life.

"I'm so sorry, [Name]. It's been hard for you," Dino spoke out. "Reborn and I started to be suspicious when I saw the name list of the Estraneo Famiglia members. Your name was on the list too and Reborn had been keeping an eye on you to see if you try to hurt Tsuna under Rokudo Mukuro's orders."

"B-but I didn't do anything-"

"Of course, you did not even try to harm him and you are completely clueless about your relationship with Mukuro. Reborn did tell you that he has someone in his mind to confirm that you are innocent, right?"

"You are not telling me that Mukuro is the one to give that confirmation?"

"Yes, he is the one. He told everything about you to another person who gave him the Mist Ring."

"What did he say to that person?"

"He said that you have nothing to do with the Estraneo Famiglia. You were taken in by force and he was given a responsibility to take care of you. So, that person agreed that if Mukuro decided to be one of Tsuna's guardian, they will protect you, Ken and Chikusa."

"Damn it, why can't he just tell me truthfully rather than twisting the whole story?"

"You've met him?"

"Yes, I did meet him. That night before I was attacked by those Varia henchmen," I bit my lips as I felt a little guilty towards that illusionist. "Come to think of it, he just wanted to see me and I treated him like my enemy."

"He wanted revenge and he did not want to drag you along," Dino smiled and gently touched my hair. "Even until now, he wants to do his job as your older brother."

"Speaking of my older brother," I gave a nervous smile. "I wonder if he will hate me or not."

"Hm, you are referring to-"

"Stop with that nonsense, herbivore."

Dino and I turned around and we saw Hibari standing nearby the door. It looked like he was glaring at the blonde boss and Dino knew that he should leave for both of us to talk.

"W-wait, Dino-san!" I tried to grab his hand. "You can't just leave me here with him!"

"I can't stay here or Kyoya will murder me," he gave a small grin. "You haven't seen him for many days, so why not spend some time with him?"

"What the-?!"

Dino quickly left the room and that leaves both of us in the room. Hibari closed the door behind him and soon approached my bed. It was so awkward that I did not know what to say to him. I did miss him and I was stuck with my own words. He held out his hand and gave a quick finger flick on my forehead.

"Ouch! W-what is that for??" I rubbed my forehead to ease that pain.

"Don't ever think that I will hate you just because he is your older brother."

"You did have a grudge against him, right??"

"That's our problem, not yours. I don't care about your dark past and what matters the most is that you're moving on."

"Hibari-san, you mean it?"

"I have promised to protect you. That will not change."

I could no longer worry about everyone who will learn to know about my past. They accepted me despite my indirect involvement with the mafia. If I had time, I wanted to talk to Mukuro so that I could know more about myself.

* * *

"[Name]! I'm so glad you are safe!" Kyoko exclaimed with worry right after I went into the classroom. I was discharged from the hospital last night and as I expected, my parents were worried. I was glad that my wound was healed just in time and it looked like it was a small scratch.

"Man, what are you thinking? Climbing on the roof all by yourself," said Hana with her disapproved look.

"Who told you that I was climbing on the roof?" I asked curiously and Kyoko decided to answer my question.

"Tsuna told me right after he visited you yesterday. Haru-chan and I were going to visit Lambo and that was we found out that you were hospitalised due to injury."

"I-I see..." I gave a light laugh.

Even Tsuna's little lie could make Kyoko believed his words. There was no way he would tell her that I fought against those Varia underlings. Speaking of Tsuna, he was not coming to school again along with Gokudera and Yamamoto. That night I was discharged, I heard it was Yamamoto's turn in the Ring battle. As much I wanted to watch them fighting against their opponent, I could not try to risk my life again by entering the school area at night.

They were not in school for days but I felt like it was much longer than that. I wonder if they were doing fine or not.

I was probably planning to visit Lambo right after I was done with the housekeeping at Hibari's house. I walked out of school and I saw a purple-haired girl standing nearby the lamp post. She looked like she had been waiting for someone and when she saw my presence, she quickly came towards me. I remembered that girl. The one who exchanged places with Mukuro.

I forgot what her name was.

"[Name], are you alright?" she asked with a guilty look on her face. "I-I'm sorry for not trying to help you that night."

"Wait, it's not your fault," I replied. "I mean, we did not expect for those people to find a trespasser in the school."

"But I was the one telling you to come over to school for that important matter," she said quickly. "Mukuro do not wish to miss that opportunity to tell you the whole truth."

"It's fine, I'm not going to blame you," I smiled at her. "At least I want to thank you for bringing me to see someone whom I used to call him big brother."

"You no longer feel angry at him? I thought you were."

"I was angry when I found out that he and his friends were the ones who hurt my friends but that had been settled. I could not be angry at someone who tried his very best to protect me. If only I can talk to him again."

"You want to talk to him?"

"I want to apologise to him. He was expecting a happy reunion but I think I've ruined it."

"Well, maybe you can meet him. This night, it will be the Mist Ring battle."

"Really? But how on earth he is going to participate? He's still in the prison."

"If it is for his little sister, then I think he will do anything to meet you again."

The girl gave a small smile to me and soon walked away, leaving me at the school gate. It was a good chance but should I be risking my life again to go to school again tonight?

* * *

I made my decision. I went to school at night so that I could apologise to Mukuro. At the same time, I wanted to tell Gokudera and others about my real identity. I understand if the silver-haired still did not trust me once he heard that I was in the mafia but I hope that Yamamoto and others could understand.

Right at the school gate, I saw the three of them entering the school area. They were injured and was covered with bandages. Gokudera saw me first and he was glaring at me. I knew he would not trust me.

"What are you doing here, woman?"

"Uh, I..."

"This is not the right time for you to borrow some library books. Just come in the next morning..."

"I-I'm not here to borrow some books!" I snapped. "I'm here to watch the Ring battle!"

"Huh? All of a sudden??" Sasagawa Ryohei gave his puzzled look. "I'm sure that you know how dangerous it is."

"This is not an amusement park, just go home already!" he retorted.

"I'm not going home until the end of this Mist Ring battle!" I yelled back.

"Why, you-!"

"Gokudera, just let her watch the battle," Yamamoto finally spoke out.

"Are you nuts?! We're not going to let her stay and get hurt just like that night!"

"I know that, and I think she has her reason why she wants to watch tonight's battle."

I blinked as soon I heard what Yamamoto had just said. He seemed to know why I would come to watch tonight's battle.

"You know about it? But how?"

"I'm just guessing," he chuckled. "By the way, Tsuna already told us everything about you, [Name]."

"Huh?? You mean..."

"We know and we will not hate you. The important thing is that you choose to move on instead of trapping yourself in your dark past," Yamamoto explained and smiling sincerely at me.

"If the Tenth can accept you, then I do not see any reason to see you as a threat."

"Well, you are glaring at me earlier..." I gave a suspicious look at the silver-haired.

"Look, I'm sorry for that, woman! I can't help it when I heard something that is going to harm the Tenth!"

"Maybe you can start buying a fly swatter to whack all the bees around Tsuna's head," I grinned. "Bees are harmful to him."

Gokudera was irritated as usual and he was attempting to throw some bombs at me before Yamamoto could stop him. The boxer and the baseball enthusiast were laughing to see both of us acting like a cat and dog. Despite a deathlike Ring battle, they seemed to be able to relax for a while.

Reborn soon arrived with another teenage boy named Basil who was carrying the unconscious Tsuna at his back. The tutor hitman explained that the brunette had seen something that made him passed out. We waited until he woke up and moments later, Ken and Chikusa unexpectedly arrived with Tsuna's supposed Mist Guardian, Chrome Dokuro. Since her appearance looked so similar to Mukuro, it was obvious that Gokudera thought she was possessed by that illusionist.

Tsuna trusted her because he knew she was not him. She was merely herself and he allowed her to participate in the current battle. Chrome was pretty strong too but her opponent was a fellow Arcobaleno (the seven strongest cursed infants). She was nearly defeated and we found out that she lost most of her important organs in her body.

Her condition worsened and I grew worried about her. I thought she was going to die until she was soon replaced by another person in a thick fog. Not everyone knew who was it but Tsuna had the answer.

Rokudo Mukuro was taking over Chrome's place and he easily defeated his opponent with his illusions. It was so powerful that we felt like we were trapped in his world. It happened so quickly and I realised that I was in total darkness. I looked around and I did not see anyone. I was getting scared until I saw a blue-haired boy carrying a little girl in his arms.

He continued to walk with a guilty look on his face. The girl was already asleep and she was later placed on a chair with a small bag with her. The boy was looking at her for one last time and I could hear what he was saying.

"I am not going to drag you with me. Stay with your new parents instead. If there is a chance, we will meet again someday."

The girl was still sleeping but I could tell that she was going to cry. I was watching both of them and I slowly learn that it was a part of my memory.

The boy then turned to look at me with his heterochromia eyes. He was smiling at me before he talked to me.

"You wish to talk to me, [Name]?"


	14. coincidence

For first, I did not know what to say but I could not waste more time. This was the only chance I could talk to him since I chose to come here and apologise to him.

"Is that you?"

The boy simply smiled as he replied.

"Who else? I guess you already know who is this girl."

"...it is me. I mean, I can see the resemblance." I commented. "I wonder why I could not remember this past of mine."

"Not everyone wants to remember their traumatic past, [Name]. But sometimes, such a dark past can motivate someone to plot revenge. Which is why I do not wish to drag you along with me at that time."

"I'm sorry, big brother."

"Hm, why do you want to apologise?"

"When you come all the way here just to see me and I yelled at you for hurting my friends. I did not approve all your actions but I..."

"It's fine, [Name]."

The boy soon transformed into his teenage self and he was smiling at me. He softly brushed my hair aside before he spoke to me.

"I am the one should say sorry to you for hurting your dear friends. My revenge drives me to commit this act until Sawada Tsunayoshi finally defeated me. At least I am deeply grateful that he decided to protect you even after learning about your past."

"He is worried about you and your other two friends."

"He's naive, isn't he?" he chuckled and he noticed that he was about to disappear soon.

"You're leaving now?"

"Yes, since I've used lots of my energy to fight against that greedy Arcobaleno. If there is anything, you may always ask Nagi. She is the only one who can communicate with me so far."

"I don't want to trouble her a lot, but I will," I gave a small smile. "Please take care of yourself."

"You too, [Name]. We will meet again one day."

Once Mukuro dispersed into the mist, the surroundings were dark once again. I started to hear people calling out for me and I slowly opened both of my eyes. Tsuna and others were looking at me and they were worried. The school gym was surprisingly quiet and I knew that the Mist Ring battle was already over. Did I pass out that long?

"[Name]! Are you alright??" Tsuna quickly asked.

"Uh, what happened to me earlier?" I asked quietly.

"You passed out in the middle of the battle," Gokudera answered. "We thought you could not handle his powerful illusions and we are about to bring you to the hospital."

"Your face is nearly as pale as Tsuna when Mukuro used his powers against his opponent," added Yamamoto and he was still worried. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"...sorry for making all of you worry," I apologised and I smiled at them. "Thank you, I'm fine for now. I've managed to talk to him before he left. Did he win?"

"Fortunately, yes," Reborn answered. "He's been a great help and we just need Hibari to win tomorrow."

"What? It's Hibari-san's turn already?? I blinked with shock.

"Yep, it's his turn," Yamamoto replied and he grinned. "It's late now, let us accompany you home, [Name]."

"Y-yeah, let us take you home. We rather not letting you being attacked by any of those Varia henchmen," said Tsuna.

"No, I'm okay. I'll just head home on my own-"

Tsuna quickly came to me and he whispered in my ear. He sounded nervous when I heard his voice.

"He didn't know that you are here to see Mukuro, right? If anything happens to you, Hibari-san will bite all of us to death. So, just let us take you home safely this time."

The brunette was right. Hibari did not know that I came here to watch the Mist Ring battle. I laughed nervously when I thought that they would be hunted down if I was hurt.

"Okay. Let us go home together."

* * *

I was feeling so relieved after apologising to Mukuro last night and I was slightly confident that Hibari will win tonight's Cloud Ring battle. I heard that it should be the last day for them and I hope everything was alright.

I was helping Hana to return her books to the library as she had to go back home due to an emergency. I noticed that she had been reading the books that were quite mature for her age. I remembered that she wished to meet that mature-looking guy once again and she did not know that he was Lambo from the future.

Lambo was still in a coma but there was an improvement in his health condition. I could not wait to see him jumping around soon and I was planning to buy some sweets for him.

I was placing the returned books on the shelf when I accidentally dropped another book. I knelt to pick it up and I read the title of that book.

**World's Most Gruesome Murders in History**

The cover book itself was filled with some pictures of the murderers from the past and they looked so much like a psychotic killer to me. With curiosity, I started flipping pages and there was a list of murder cases that happened in the world. One of them caught my attention and I started to read it.

_**Happily Ever After Murder (1850's in France)** _

_The son of a French Duke, Dion Anatole was charged with the murder of nine young women from different regions. The nine victims were murdered and have parts of their body harvested by the killer himself to complete his collection of rebuilding his dead wife's rotten body._

_Dion Anatole was the oldest son of Duke Anatole and he was highly famous among the royal family compared to his other two younger brothers, Esteban and Fabien. It was believed that he started to commit those murders after the death of his wife. Duke Anatole personally hired an assassin to kill his oldest son's wife because he never liked her and did not approve their marriage._

_Dion refused to believe that his wife was dead and once her body started to rot, he began to look for his victims. He changed his name as Andante Olio and tricked the victims into marrying him before they were killed. He even hired someone to be his double so that he could continue to murder while the other disguised as him to attend any function with his family._

_He was later arrested in the church where he was about to marry his tenth and final victim named Angelique Bravard, the daughter of Duke Bravard (Duke Anatole's good friend). It was reported that he finally went insane after the arrest and soon was hanged to death for his brutal crime. He did not show any remorse even after his death. The authorities found a note written by Dion Anatole himself before he was hanged. It was unknown if the note was his suicide note or his last message and this remained a mystery until now._

I felt rather disgusted for this murderer and it was true that he did not show any remorse according to his picture in this book. I even felt angrier at this man for killing lots of innocent women just for his insane motive.

That was strange. Why was I angry at him? I hardly knew who was this man at all.

I saw another picture of a note that was left behind by that murderer and it took me some time to try reading it out what it said. It was written in blood.

**_You will be mine someday. I will never let you go easily._ **

I shrieked in sudden, dropping the book at the same time. It was just a note. An idiotic note left by an insane murderer. Why would I be scared? Why I had this such feeling? Why were my hands were cold and shivering?

"Herbivore, why are you screaming in the library?"

I quickly turned around and Hibari was already standing behind me with his disapproved look. It was obvious because being noisy in the library was forbidden. I was still shaken after reading that note and he seemed to notice my pale look. He came near to me and placed his hand on my shoulder, staring straight to my eyes.

"What's wrong? Are you sick?"

I was unable to speak for a moment and once he repeated his question, I tried to take some deep breath and I answered.

"I'm not...sick. I'm just being spooked after reading a scary book."

"At that level of making your face pale? That is not convincing to me."

"I know I'm easily scared but who would not be scared to read that kind of book??"

Hibari was still looking at me and he soon stared at the book I dropped earlier. He picked it up and flipped the pages to see its content. He stopped at one part and I did see his hands were gripping that book tightly. He closed the book and then placed it back on the shelf.

"Maybe you should stop reading that book. Who knows you end up not able to sleep at night."

"A-are you trying to scare me?"

"Well, you are the one get spooked."

"How about you start worrying about your tonight's battle?"

"Why I should be worried about it?"

"It's your important battle," I said quickly. "Your opponent is not something normal. I mean, you're against that killer machine. What if you-"

"If I what?"

He was staring intently at me and I went silent. He must be thinking that I was not confident that he will win this night. I still remembered how he was first defeated by Mukuro and I did not want to see him getting hurt like that ever again.

"Seeing you getting hurt just like last time is one of my nightmares. I want to say that this situation is different because the one you are against is a machine, not a human. How am I going to explain to your grandfather if you come back home injured again?"

"I'm going to be fine. If you think that metal scrap is going to kill me off, then you are wrong."

"You still believe that you will win?"

"I don't care who is my opponent," the skylark held out his steel tonfa. "I won't lose to anyone."

He was being stubborn as ever but who would want to stop him. I sighed a little as I took out something from my pocket. It was a good luck charm that I made with Kyoko and Haru and I was planning to give one for Hibari. If he did not want it, then I would just keep it for myself.

"Hibari-san, can you please hold out your hand? I want to give you something."

"What is that you want to give me?" he asked as he held out his hand.

"Um, a good luck charm," I replied and I placed the charm in his hand. "I thought this might give you some luck. If you don't want it, it's fine-"

"I don't need this stuff," he said bluntly but he took it and put it in his pocket. "Yours will be the exception."

"Why is that so?" I asked curiously.

"Don't ask," he simply answered. "My grandfather will be in another town, so you may dismiss from the housekeeping work early."

He ruffled my hair gently before he left the library. Whether he was going to win or lose, I might just need to wait until he returned home.

Once I was done, I went back to my classroom and I saw only a few students packing their bags to go home. It was already late afternoon and I need to start doing the housekeeping work. I was so in a hurry that I dropped my textbooks on the floor. I picked them up and I saw a note attached to one of my books.

There was no name on it. It was a note written on it and it made my mind froze with shock.

**_I can tell you who is that sandbag killer. Meet me at the school gym tomorrow at 3 p.m._ **


	15. nightmare

I was in the school gym all on my own. I was walking towards the stage and I looked around to see if anyone was present. I climbed up the stage steps and I waited for someone to come and tell me who was the one tried to kill me during that performance months ago.

All of a sudden, large metal chains popped out from the stage floor and wrapped around my legs. I gasped with horror and I realised that I could not move at all. I tried to remove the chains but it would not budge. The chains began to feel hot and it was already burning my legs. I screamed in pain until I heard a dark lunatic laugh above the stage.

_"I just love to see you struggle like this."_

The pain was something I could not handle and I was crying. I looked up and I could see a man standing there with a knife in his hand. His face was well hidden but he was ready to cut off the large sandbag's rope.

"Please, stop!! Why do you want to kill me?! What did I do wrong to you??! Answer me!!"

I yelled and all I think was the pain I was suffering. The chains soon wrapped my legs even tighter and it was scorching hot, now burning my legs' muscles and bones.

I was begging for anyone to come over and save me. I could not stand this cruel torture.

Where was everyone? Why no one heard me screaming and crying??

_"You will be mine someday. I will never let you go easily."_

My eyes widened in horror. Those words were the same as the suicide note left by the serial killer from the past. Why would he recite that creepy message to me??

All I knew was that large sandbag was about to crush me to death. Or more like, it was already my death.

* * *

I screamed in sudden and I fell out of my bed. I probably sprained my neck after that fall and my legs were tangled with my blanket. I was still on the floor while staring at my room with my horrified eyes.

It was quiet. It was still dark. My legs were still fine. It was a nightmare. It felt so real.

This nightmare was even worse than facing Mukuro's hellish illusions.

"[Name], are you alright??"

My mother came to me with worry and she helped me to sit up straight while removing the blanket from my legs. I was still in shock and I knew my current expression was worrying her. I took a few deep breaths before I turned to look at my mother.

"...I'm fine, mum. It's just a bad dream."

"Bad dream? You screamed rather loudly and I thought something bad happened to you..."

"I-I'm easily startled with something scary," I gave a small smile. "Hibari-san is right after all. I should not have read a scary book before going to sleep."

"Poor thing. Then you really should not read something that gives you a nightmare," my mother gently brushed my messy hair to another side of my head. "See, even your boyfriend cares a lot about you."

"Mum, he's not..." I sighed. "Whatever, I'm hoping that he's doing fine."

"Why would you say like that, [Name]?"

"Nothing. I'm sorry for disturbing. I'll sleep for now."

I slowly stood up and climbed on my bed while my mother took the blanket to cover my body. She gave a light peck on my forehead and soon left my room, making sure that I was comfortable.

I was rather grateful to have caring adoptive parents of mine. If it was not because of Mukuro, I would not know what would happen to me in the past.

* * *

"Ouch!!"

I nearly forgot that I sprained my neck last night. I was not able to move my head normally and I kept on rubbing my neck to ease the pain. Though it was not as painful as my burnt legs.

Because of that certain nightmare, I was not confident to go to the school gym that afternoon just to find out who was that sandbag killer. I was highly curious and I wanted to know who was it since they were the one who hurt Yamamoto while he was protecting me from that sandbag fall. If I went there, I was at risk of getting myself in danger.

"Ciaossu, [Name]!"

I heard Reborn's voice from the school gate and I smiled at him. I tilted my head and I yelped in pain, causing him to wonder what had happened to me.

"Did you sprain your neck?"

"Y-yeah, from my sleep..." I was rubbing my neck slowly. "You can laugh at me if you want. I fell from my bed after having a nightmare."

"Nightmare, huh? Must be scary enough to wake you up."

"Your words are not helping me at all," I gave an awkward laugh. "By the way, did Hibari-san win the battle last night? Was it finally over?"

"He easily won the battle but I'm afraid it's not over yet," Reborn replied with his grim tone.

"Why? Did something bad happen?"

"Yes, it's a long story. So I can't tell you everything right now until it's over."

I nodded and I would not ask further about it. A student was running into the school grounds and he accidentally bumped onto me. My school bag dropped at the same time and my books were covered with dirt. I groaned a little as I knelt to pick up my school bag and books. Reborn picked up one of my books and he seemed to be staring at it with his curious look before he gave it back to me. I realised that he was reading the sticky note with the note about the sandbag killer.

"[Name], who gave you that note?"

"I-I don't know. It was already attached to my textbook since afternoon yesterday."

"And you are planning to see that person on your own? What if they turned out to be that sandbag killer?"

"I'm aware of that, but if I don't go, I will not know who is the one hurt Yamamoto."

"The killer set this trap just for you. They know you want to find out the truth, so they decided to tell you who they are and soon resume to kill you off," Reborn then smiled at me. "I suggest that you ignore the note and go to the private hospital. I heard that stupid cow is already waking up and waiting for his favourite dessert. You also can do something with your sprained neck there."

"Really? I would love to, but what about the school? Hibari-san would bite me to death if I absent to school."

"Don't worry, I'll tell him that you're going to the hospital. Now hurry up before he throws his huge tantrum."

"Alright, thanks."

I walked away from the school and I made all my way to the private hospital. I could hear Lambo's voice from his room and it was lucky that I brought along some sweet buns. I slide the door open and he was looking at me with his happy look.

"[Name], [Name]! You're here! Lambo-san is hungry here!" he whined and I laughed at his usual behaviour.

"You finally awake? Everyone is waiting for you. How are you, Lambo?"

"Lambo-san is mighty fine than ever! Someday, I shall defeat that hitman Reborn!" he proudly laughed.

"That's great. Are you hungry? I bring some sweet buns here."

"But I want cake and sweets. [Name], can I have those instead??"

"No, you can't eat those things until you are fully recovered."

"I'm not weak! I'm stronger than you think!"

I gave a light sigh, realising that Lambo could be stubborn. I came up with a better idea to cheer him up.

"Hey, Lambo. If you can at least get a proper rest until you are completely recovered, we will throw a party to celebrate your recovery. You can eat anything you like right after you wake up."

"Huh?? Really?? You're going to do that???" Lambo's eyes widened with happiness.

"Yes, we will. Not only that, but we will also celebrate Tsuna's success in the sumo competition. It's going to be grand."

"Waahh! This is so cool! I wanna join the party!"

"So, you just need to listen to the doctor's advice, get more rest and there will be a party. Is it okay for you?"

"Lambo-san will get more rest! Lambo-san will attend that great party!"

I smiled and once again, I gave him the sweet buns as he was already hungry. He obediently ate some of the buns and after the doctor gave some medication to him, he went back to sleep with the oxygen mask on.

He was only a child but he was already involved with the mafia. I felt like he had a better situation than I was since I was the mafia family's test subject.

A kind doctor came to me once he found out that I sprained my neck. He explained that it was a small sprain and he took a large plaster to paste it on my neck. Once it was done, I walked out from the private hospital and I thought it would be better if I went home instead.

I was at halfway to my apartment when I felt like someone was following me from behind. I started to feel uneasy and I was not going to try to turn around to see who it was. I gripped my school bag's handle tightly and I wanted to run as fast as I could.

I was about to run when someone grabbed my arm in a nick of time. I flinched with shock, nearly screamed until I saw who it was.

"Why are you running away from me, herbivore?"

"I-I thought someone else is going to kidnap me or something else!" I quickly answered and I was highly embarrassed. "Y-you could have just spoken out rather than stalking me!"

"Stalking you?" Hibari's tone was colder. "Do I look like a creepy follower to you?"

"I didn't say anything like that to you! Aren't you supposed to be at school??"

"That little kid told me that you went to the hospital due to a sprained neck. I just want to make sure that you did not escape from school."

"Reborn would never lie," I raised my eyebrows and I pointed my finger at the plaster on my neck. "I'm not escaping from the school either."

"How did you sprain your neck?"

"...a nightmare?"

Hibari did not reply for first but he turned away, trying not to let his laugh out. I did not even care if that was the first time I saw him laugh but I find it annoying.

"Okay, I get it! You laughed because I read a scary book from the library and I had a bad nightmare at the end!"

"I can't believe my words are true," Hibari smirked.

"You certainly do not have any idea how scary it was-!"

I suddenly paused and I quickly placed my hand on my neck, gritted my teeth with pain. The skylark noticed it and he came to me to check it out. He slowly rubbed my sprained neck and I bit my lips to stop myself from yelling with pain. He did not laugh and his face remained expressionless.

"What did you see in your nightmare?" Hibari asked softly.

"...a school gym. I was there to meet...the sandbag killer..." I replied, whimpering with pain.

"And then?"

"I stood on the stage, and my legs were being tied up with large metal chains. I could not move at all. And those chains...started to burn my legs..."

"What happened next? Did you see that killer?"

"I...I don't know if he's the killer...it's a man, standing above the stage and he was ready to cut off the sandbag's rope..." I was on the verge of crying. "I begged him to stop but he did not listen. He even...recited that creepy suicide note from that book I read in the library."

I wiped the tears with my hands and I refused to look at the skylark. I did not want him to see me cry. He soon stopped rubbing my neck and he took my hand, much to my surprise.

"Let's get back to your apartment. You are going to need more rest for today."

"I'm fine on my own. You should be focusing on the final battle tonight."

"You don't need to worry about that battle. I'm going to stay by your side until you feel comfortable."

Hibari then started to walk while holding my hand to follow him. It happened all of a sudden and it was rather unpredictable. In the end, I secretly smiled at his sincerity as I allowed him to bring me back to my apartment.

As long as I was with him, I knew that I was safe and feeling secured.


	16. voice

I thought I could sleep longer since I did not have to go to school the other day. It was until Kyoko and Haru came over to my apartment and they were telling me that they will bring me to Yamamoto's house for a party. I was still confused for a moment and Kyoko told me that we were celebrating Tsuna's success in the sumo competition and Lambo's recovery. I nearly forgot about it and I quickly checked my drawer to make sure that I bought his favourite sweets.

Not long after that, we arrived at Yamamoto's house and everyone was still doing some preparation for the party before Tsuna's arrival. I helped them to finish up their preparation and I was glad to see the boys safe and alive. 

Back then, they were heavily bandaged during the Ring battle especially Gokudera. At least he finally learned to value his own life more than anything. Minutes later, Tsuna came over along with Lambo, I-Pin, Reborn, Fuuta and another man named Lanchia. The party was livelier than ever.

"Hey, [Name]," Yamamoto greeted me and he was smiling as usual. "It's been long I didn't see you."

"Yeah, considering that you and others had been absent from school for days," I replied. "Are you still hurt anywhere?"

"I'm perfectly fine now. Just a fitful sleep and I feel like I'm ready for the next baseball game," he grinned. "Anyway, we finally won the battle last night. I bet Tsuna is proud of it."

"I don't think he would want to get involved with something like this ever again," I laughed. "I'm so glad that all of you are safe. Thank you again for willing to become my friend despite my dark past and my connection with Mukuro."

"Come on, don't sweat it. That's what friends are about. More importantly, you have decided to move on," Yamamoto stated. "[Name], I've been meaning to ask you something."

"Hm, what do you want to ask?"

Yamamoto looked like he was reluctant to ask and I remembered that he did want to ask me something after our skit months earlier. I was waiting for him to ask when Reborn suddenly came to me and he wanted to talk to me. Yamamoto passed his opportunity once again and told me to see what Reborn wanted from me. I excused myself and I went straight to see Reborn with my curious look.

"What can I do for you, Reborn?"

"I just need your help, [Name]. How is your neck?"

"Feeling much better. You told Hibari-san about my sprained neck, right?"

"He's pretty busy with the Ring battle and yet, he still does his job as the Head of Disciplinary Committee by making sure that no students are allowed to absent from school unless with a valid reason. He had been wondering why you are not coming to school until I told him that you went to the hospital."

"Wow, I should have asked for a sick leave slip from the doctor," I laughed awkwardly.

"Back to the topic, I need your help anyway," Reborn held out a ring with a cloud pattern on it. "Could you please take the Cloud ring and pass it to Hibari? It officially belongs to him even if he refused to take it."

"Sure, I'll give it to him later on," I held out my hand to take the ring.

I touched that ring and I heard a faint voice once again. The same voice I heard when I picked the same ring in front of Hibari's house. What was that particular ring trying to say to me? Or was it just a mere imagination?

"Is there anything wrong?"

"Oh, nothing," I replied and I took the Cloud ring before placing it in my pocket.

The party was about to end and I had to leave for my housekeeping work at Hibari's house. I was a few steps away from Yamamoto's house when Lanchia came out and he wanted to talk to me something important.

"Miss [Last Name], do you still remember me?"

"Um, you are that man who got poisoned at the Kokuyo Land, right?"

"That's right. I just want to say thank you for saving my life. Though I am wondering why you would rescue someone like me."

"Why would I not save you? That poison would have killed you if I didn't do anything."

"Even if I could be your enemy?" asked Lanchia curiously.

"Enemy or not, you can't just waste your life like that," I explained. "While you still live, do whatever you can before it's too late. Atone your sins, spend more time with someone important to you and something else."

"...you're right. I guess I know what to do next," Lanchia smiled gratefully at me. "Mukuro should be thankful enough to have a thoughtful little sister."

"You know him? Wait, how did you know my name?"

"I do know him but I do not wish to speak more of what he had done to me. All I know was that he had been thinking of you ever since he left you under the care of your adopted parents."

"For all the time?"

"Yes, all the time."

After a small talk, Lanchia went back to join Tsuna and others and I continued walking to the skylark's house. At the same time, I was still thinking of the mysterious voice that came from the Cloud ring. I took it out and it was a complete shape of a ring. I remembered that it was half of a ring when I first saw it.

I wonder what that voice was trying to tell me.

I heard some footsteps coming behind me. I was being followed and I thought it could be Tsuna or others who came to see me. Or probably Hibari. I was about to turn around and this time, the mysterious voice spoke to me in a clearer tone.

_"Don't turn around."_

"W-what?"

_"Just keep on walking, and don't turn around."_

I ended up listening to its instructions and I kept on walking at a normal speed. Those footsteps were still following me and I had to admit that it was none of my friends or Hibari. I was in grave danger. I had the urge to run but the voice did not say anything. I had been walking for a long time and I did not know what to do.

_"Once you see the junction, turn right."_

I knew that I was further from anyone behind me and I turn right after I reached the junction. Another straight path and I continued to walk at a fast speed.

Those footsteps behind me were catching up quickly. My heart was beating way too fast and I was getting really afraid. I nearly did not know where I was supposed to go.

_"Keep on running. Until you reach two ways, take the left-hand side."_

I continued to run and I still did not want to try turning around just to see who had been following me. Once I reached two ways, I automatically turn left and I suddenly stopped at my track.

"W-What the hell?!"

I panted heavily and I could not believe that I was in a dead-end. A large wire fence was in front of me and there was no way out. What was I supposed to do? I was bound to get caught by someone behind me soon enough.

_"Don't give up yet. You can do this. Climb over the fence before they catch you."_

"There's no way I can do that!!"

I yelled with frustration but the voice did not falter despite my anger. It remained calm before it spoke.

_"I know you can do this. Believe in yourself."_

Rather than being caught, I chose to listen to that voice. Before anyone could catch me, I leapt on higher and I used all my energy to climb up the wire fence. After I reached the top of the fence, I went on to jump and landed on the ground with a loud thud. The Cloud ring fell off from my pocket and I quickly picked it up before it dropped in the drain.

I wanted to see who were the ones trying to catch me but they already disappeared from the wire fence. I was so tired that I took a few steps slower to reach the skylark's house. I stared at the Cloud ring and I gave a small smile.

"I'm so sorry for yelling at you. Thank you so much for saving my life."

The voice did not speak further and I assumed that it listened to my words. I eventually passed that ring to Hibari and I started to do the housekeeping work despite my tiredness.

* * *

The school felt so quiet. The housing area and the park was quiet as well. Something was missing. I only started to realise this when Tsuna and Gokudera were absent from school. The Ring battle was over. Or was it because they were sick at the same time?

"[Name], have you seen Tsuna, Gokudera and Reborn?" Kyoko asked with her concerned look.

"No, I didn't see them. I thought they were sick," I answered.

"Haru told me that Reborn did not return home two days ago. So Tsuna and Gokudera had been searching for him yesterday. But now, we did not receive any news from both of them."

"S-seriously?" I gasped with shock. "Maybe they were at somewhere else that we did not know? I mean, Reborn always give Tsuna and Gokudera some sort like a training game..."

"Ah, that could be it!" Kyoko smiled. "I hope they are still here but we need to find them just to make sure they are safe."

"I would love to help, but..."

"Why? Are you busy?"

"Please do not misunderstand, Kyoko-chan. I wanted to help but I'm going to be a little busier at Hibari's house. If possible, I'll try to find the three of them after my housekeeping work."

"Don't worry, [Name]. You can find them after work. Just don't overdo yourself, okay?"

"Okay, I got it."

That day, I was indeed busy because Hibari's grandfather was going to have a family meeting at his house for two days. I had to make sure that the house was in perfect order. The flowers in the garden were watered, the living hall must have enough seats, enough plates and cutleries the kitchen and other else.

During those two days, more of my friends were missing at the same time. Kyoko, Haru, Lambo, I-Pin and Yamamoto.

Senior Ryohei came to me and he had been asking me lots of times if I had ever seen his sister. It was obvious to tell that he was extremely worried but he was quite noisy in the school area. Hibari had to shut his mouth by hitting his head with his steel tonfa.

Since most of them were missing for days, Hibari and I started to wonder where they were gone.

The family meeting was still going on and I did not have to do any housekeeping work. I could use all my free time to search for them. I went to their houses and the playground for more clues. I even asked the students from Midori Middle school if they had seen Haru around. I walked almost every part of Namimori (the mountains, forests, Kokuyo Land, theme park, etc) and they were not around.

I ran so fast that I bumped into someone by accident. Both of us fell on the ground and I was about to apologise when something was going to fall above my head. I looked up and a large bazooka hit my head.

I did not feel any pain at all. I was transferred to another place.

I soon fell to the ground again and I was in the dark alley. I was sure that I was in Namimori but it was a little different. Beside me was a small bag with a name on it.

**_This bag belongs to [Full Name]. Please return it to the owner if found._ **

I did not see this bag before but my name was written on it. There was a Vongola crest on it. Confused, I opened the bag and there were lots of medical supplies that had been arranged neatly, some strange looking boxes and an ID card. I picked up the ID card and I knew my face turned pale white after reading the card details.

It was my future self.

I knew why Tsuna and others were missing for days.

We were transferred to the future world, ten years later.


	17. call

Once I landed in another place, I had no idea where I was. I was in a dark alley and all I have was a bag with a Vongola crest and my name written on it. I did not think that I brought anything with me before I was transferred. I rummaged that bag to look for any clues and I saw an ID card and a phone. The photo of a woman in the ID card looked so much like me but older than my age. I grew even more confused and I decided to check the phone instead. It was locked with a password but I could see the current date and time on top of the screen.

The date and time were the same, but the year was different. Ten years apart from the current year.

"N-no way...is this the future world??"

I wished it was a dream. It was just a dream. There was no way I got lost in the future world.

I stood up and I walked out from the alley to see where I had landed.

There were a lot of apartment buildings and it was still afternoon. If I was not mistaken, my apartment was somewhere around this area. I could sigh with relief and I wanted to go home. It was a dream after all.

Though I was not entirely sure about that bag with my name on it.

I picked it up and I took it with me, heading back to my apartment. However, the area seemed to feel so silent and hostile. Since when Namimori became an unsafe place to stay?

"Oh, my. Is that you, [Name]?"

I turned around and I saw an elderly woman standing in front of her apartment door. She was about to leave to buy some groceries and she was slightly surprised to see me. I knew her because she was the one who taught my mother to cook some nice dishes.

"Kaede-san, are you going to buy something?" I asked while smiling at her.

"Indeed I am," she replied. "I could not believe my own eyes to see that you look much younger than before. But dear, what are you doing here?"

"I'm on my way home. Is there anything wrong?"

"Home? I thought you are staying with your fiancee."

I was stunned and I went speechless for a few minutes. I was so sure that I did not hear wrongly. Who the hell was my fiancee? I was only a middle school student!

"W-what do you mean by...s-staying with my fiancee, Kaede-san?" I gave my most awkward smile.

"You don't remember?" she gasped with shock. "A few months ago, you were engaged with someone important and you already moved out of your apartment. Which makes me wonder why would you come back here again."

"Really? Kaede-san, perhaps I have trouble with my memories. Could you please tell me who is my fiancee?"

The elderly woman was about to answer when she saw something that made her eyes grew wider with fear. Without saying anything, she quickly grabbed my arm and pulled me back into her apartment. She told me to keep quiet and closed the door tightly. I sat against the door and I could hear some voices from outside.

"Hey, old lady! Have you seen this person around??"

"No, I didn't see her. She's no longer staying in this area."

"Are you sure? We have a witness telling us that she had seen this person coming to this area."

"May I know who is that witness you are talking about?"

"Why should we tell you, huh??"

"So that I want to know who would be the one spreading unconfirmed rumours. And please mind your manners when you are talking to an elderly..."

"Fine then. That witness stays in a house with a brown roof, somewhere around that area."

"With the nameplate written as Mizushima, am I right?"

"How the hell did you know that, old lady??"

"I've been staying here for a long time, young man. That woman always spreading fake rumours and no one ever wanted to believe what she says. You are not telling me that I would lie about this young lady you are looking for?"

"What are you trying to say??"

"I heard she used to be friends with this young lady during their middle school years. Maybe she purposely leads you to another place so that she can let your target escape safely..."

"D-damn it! Everyone, go back to that house now! I'm going to slice that b*tch into pieces!"

The sound of footsteps faded and those men whom the elderly woman was talking to already left her apartment. She carefully went back to her apartment and she was smiling at me, nearly crying to see me safe.

"[Name], I'm so glad that I managed to keep you safe."

"K-Kaede-san, please don't cry, " I placed my hands on her shoulders with my worried look. "What is happening here? Why are those men coming to look for me?"

"They had been looking for you and they had been coming to this area for many times because they know you are staying here," she replied sadly. "Your parents had managed to escape from them and they told me that if you ever come here, I must make sure that you will not come back here again."

"Did I...do something bad?"

"No, dear. You never did anything wrong," she gently placed her hand on my cheek. "You are such a good girl, [Name]-chan. You are fortunate enough to get engaged with a man who will always stay by your side."

I could not understand what was happening but I knew it was not good news. Even an elderly woman was brave enough to protect me from those men. I was on the verge of crying and I wiped the tears off from my eyes.

"[Name], when I am away to buy my things, please take your time to escape from my apartment. Be safe and hide from any men with black suits. Don't ever pass by that house with a brown roof. I do not want that horrid woman to see you running away from this area."

"I will. Thank you so much, Kaede-san."

"You are most welcome, dear."

"Kaede-san, who is that horrid woman you are referring to?"

"I bet you remember her name so well. It's Mizushima Risako."

* * *

I escaped from the elderly woman's apartment and I could run without anyone noticing me. The only place I could hide was my late grandmother's old house. My parents told me that her house had been long abandoned after she passed away and nobody wanted to rent or buy her house.

They said it was haunted. In my opinion, nobody wanted to stay there because her housing area did not provide better infrastructures compared to the town. Whatever it was, her house would be my temporary shelter. I was planning to look for Tsuna and others later.

Tsuna and my other friends were missing because they somewhat got transferred to the future world. The same thing happened to me. What kind of thing that hit my head after I bumped into someone?

Were they being hunted down by those men in black suits? Why were we wanted? Kaede-san kept on saying that I did not do anything wrong. Or were we being framed for something we never committed?

As for Mizushima Risako, she had seen me walking straight to the apartment buildings. She told those men to find me there. What was her exact motive? Why she wanted me...dead? I learnt that she had a deep grudge against me though I was not sure when that such thing will happen in the present year.

The phone was vibrating in my bag and I flinched with shock. I quickly took it out to see who was calling me and the name was written as Kyo-kun.

Why on earth that name was so familiar to me??

"H-hello?"

_"[Name], why are you taking so long time to answer?"_

The moment I heard the caller's voice, I felt like I wanted to scream with joy. As if I had finally found something important in my life.

"Hibari-san, is that you?? I've been waiting for you to call me."

_"...why are you calling my name like that? We are not middle school students anymore."_

Crap. I guess that I was talking to Hibari's future self. I nearly forgot everything when I could finally hear his voice.

"S-sorry, I forgot...no, I mean...I got here, in this future world. I don't even know what the hell is going on here..."

_"...please don't tell me that you're from the present time?"_

"I am coming from the present time!" I snapped. "I nearly get caught by those men in black suits and I don't know where I should hide!"

_"[Name], are you alright?"_

"I thought I am going to die..." I muttered. "I didn't see Tsuna or anyone else here...I'm all on my own."

_"Hang in there. I'm going to come over and take you to the hiding place. Where are you right now?"_

"I'm in my grandmother's old house," I looked up at the place I was hiding. "I think it's in the southern part of Namimori."

_"Got it. Just stay there and don't move anywhere. I'm on my way."_

"Alright, please hurry up."

The call had just ended and I was peeking through the window to see if anyone was coming to my hiding spot. I was curious to see how his future self looked like. His voice remained the same and he should be taller than his present self.

I wonder if Hibari from the present time would be worried once he found out that I was missing just like Tsuna and others. I could feel senior Ryohei's worry for his sister's disappearance. My parents might start reporting to the police about me.

"This is it! The signal comes from here!"

I froze and I was so sure that it was not Hibari. Someone else was coming to my hiding spot. The hell? No one was supposed to know about this place!

I slowly peeked and it was those men in their strange-looking black outfits. What kind of soldiers dressed up like that? Most of them were holding dangerous weapons with coloured flames on it. They were more dangerous than the Varia's henchmen. Would it be wise to fight them?

That sounded like a very bad idea. I had to defend myself until Hibari arrived.

I quietly crawled to the kitchen and I took all the remaining cutleries in the drawers along with the kitchen knives. I also took some elastic bands and clothes hangers before placing everything in my bag. I climbed into the old house's ceiling and I set as many slingshots as I could. After putting all my handmade slingshots around the ceiling, I waited for those men to come inside the room. They were taking their time to search around the house but I was patient. It was my only way to take down more of them.

After half an hour, all of them were entering the room and there were searching thoroughly, making sure that I would not run away from them. When I felt that they were a lot of them, I cut off the main elastic band and all of the cutleries and knives struck them at the same time. They were seriously injured and they were yelling with pain. I smirked with satisfaction and I jumped out from the ceiling, running all my way out to the entrance door.

"Where do you think you're going, [Full Name]?"

I did not have time to react when someone had just electrocuted both of my legs. I screamed with pain and I collapsed on the floor. There were deep gashes on my legs and I could not move at all. Another random man who was bigger than any of them had his one hand grabbing my neck and he was trying to choke me to death.

I coughed loudly, almost losing my voice. I struggled to free myself but the other was stronger. My eyes started to roll back in my head and I was out of breath.

The door was kicked open and seconds later, the grip on my neck was released and my head fell on the floor. I was able to breathe again but I could not do it normally.

"[Name]! Wake up! Did you hear me?!"

I felt so tired and everything else went black. I was smiling because he finally came to save me.


	18. tension

I wished that I would see a classroom or my bedroom once I woke up from my deep sleep. I hate to accept the fact that I was in a hostile, future world. It was not a dream since I could touch the bandages wrapped around my neck. I nearly forget that my wounds could heal on its own but with my current injuries, it would take some time to heal. I opened both of my eyes and I could see that I was sleeping in the room that looked strangely similar to Hibari's bedroom.

It was similar but I would not believe that I had returned to the present time. The door was slide open and I saw a man with his black suit, matching with his purple shirt. His black hair was short and spikier, not forgetting to mention that his eyes were intimidating.

I quickly stood up to run away only to end up collapsing due to my current injuries. The man approached and he helped me to sit up, showing no signs of trying to hurt me.

"You're still recovering and yet, you're trying to stand up. You are indeed my clumsy handmaiden from the present time."

Once I heard his voice, I slowly turned my head to look at him. His appearance differed but he was still the same demonic skylark from the present time. I could not believe this was how he looked like in the future world and this made me feel even more awkward to talk to him.

Such as, how was I supposed to start with? How was I supposed to call him? I had many things to ask him and I could not utter a single word.

"Uh...I..." I blinked my eyes hard. "I don't get it. What is happening in this world, H-"

"You may continue to address me as you did to my past self," the older Hibari replied. "As you can see, this future world is currently invaded by a dangerous mafia family called Millefiore Famiglia. Their job is to kill off anyone who is working or ever related to the Vongola Famiglia."

"...is that the reason why those men in black are around to look for me?"

"Unfortunately, yes. Your future self is now working for the Vongola Famiglia and that makes both you and her as the Millefiore's current target."

"Kaede-san told me that my parents managed to escape from those men. Please don't tell me that they are being hunted down as well?"

"Family members, friends, acquaintances, they are on the list too. Your parents' whereabouts are unknown but they are temporarily safe. Besides, Yamamoto Takeshi already lost his father in this world. You probably could imagine how he had to handle this news."

Reunited with my friends was a good thing for me but staying in a dangerous future world was not a good idea. It became my worst nightmare after being experimented by the Estraneo Famiglia. My parents, my friends and myself were bound to be killed by the Millefiore Famiglia.

"Are you alright?"

"...do I look like I'm doing fine?" my tone of speaking was shaky. "I just want to go home. I rather do all the housekeeping work in your house than staying here and waiting to be killed. I am lucky to survive earlier but there won't be next time after this."

"[Name]-"

"Why am I here in the first place?? I have been looking for my missing friends and I got here all of a sudden! I don't remember making a wish to live in a cruel world and I have enough going through all the horrible stuff!"

The older skylark did not wait for me to continue speaking as he pulled me in a tight hug. I stopped talking and I was breathing quite heavily. I was really afraid in the beginning until when the older Hibari hugged me in sudden, I slowly calmed down and I started to cry. I did not push him away. I hugged him back and I buried my face on his chest, crying as if I had lost my family member. It was only the moment I felt secure when he was staying by my side.

"I know you are afraid, [Name]. Afraid, but you stand to defeat those who are trying to catch you. You did well to continue surviving in this horrible world."

I did not say anything. I was listening to him and I refused to let him go.

"Your friends and I are working hard to defeat the Millefiore Famiglia. It is the only way for all of you to return to the peaceful present time. For now, I need you to stay calm and stick with your friends at this crucial time. Is it alright with you?"

I nodded and I wiped off the tears from my eyes. I was grateful to be alive and I smiled at him.

"This is kind of awkward for me, but I just want to say thank you for coming to save my life. To be honest, I'm really happy to see you despite the bad situation happened in this world."

The older Hibari was staring at me and he gave a small smile, pinching my nose lightly before he replied.

"Just by looking at you makes me reminiscing about our life in middle school. I believe that my past self would be out to look for you."

"How did you know that?"

"I can tell that. He's still me after all."

As he wanted to stay longer, he had other important things to do. He assigned Kusakabe to bring me to the Vongola's secret base after I refused to get another rest. The secret base was under the ground but it was nearly as large as Namimori Middle school. Kusakabe had been nice to me as he gave me a hand-drawn map of the secret base.

I had been looking at the map while walking around the base. The closest place I could reach was the kitchen and I could guess that both Haru and Kyoko would be in that place. The door was opened and I was expecting a happy and relieved look from them.

They were relieved but in shock and worried at the same time. I forgot that my neck and my legs were wrapped with bandages. They ran to me and they nearly cried to see my current condition.

"Oh, my! Are you alright, [Name]??" Haru screeched with worry. "Why are you covered in bandages??"

"Uh, well....I..." I could not think of something and I was unsure if I should tell them the truth since Tsuna and others had been hiding about mafia stuff from both of them.

"[Name], please tell us. Are you being attacked by those men in black?"

Kyoko's question made me stunned. How did she know about the men in black?

"I'm glad to see you here, [Name]."

The three of us looked around and we saw Reborn standing at the kitchen's door. The way he stared at me made me feel like he knew what had happened to me. He simply smiled at Kyoko and Haru and he told them that he wanted to talk to me for a moment. Both of them nodded and I ended up following him to Yamamoto's training room. Compared to the girls, Yamamoto was in complete shock. He dropped his bamboo sword and he came to me, gripping both of my shoulders tightly.

"[Name], what on earth happened to you??"

"I-I'm fine, I just-"

"Just tell me, who hurt you like this??"

I could tell that he was overly worried and his grip on my shoulders was tighter. I yelped in pain and he realised that he was going to hurt me. He quickly moved his hands away from my shoulders and apologised. The same thing Reborn did to those who arrived in the future world, he started to explain the whole situation that recently happened. I just listened and some parts of his explanation were similar to what the older Hibari had told me earlier. Reborn was done telling the whole thing and it was my turn to tell what I had been doing after coming into this world.

"Mizushima Risako? That name sounds familiar," said Yamamoto curiously.

"She's in charge of printing the brochures during the school carnival," I replied. "I admitted that I find her annoying but to think that she told to those men about my whereabouts, I don't think I could trust her after we return to the present time."

"If I were you, I'm going to kick her around the school just like I kicked Lambo," Reborn added. "I began to feel something fishy about her."

"Fishy? You mean she could be the mafia?" I asked.

"No, she's just a normal person. So, there's no point in thinking about her in this era," Reborn then looked up at me. "What are you planning to do, [Name]?"

"I don't know, but...I want to fight with all of you," I answered and the one who was quick to reply was Yamamoto.

"No, I won't allow it."

"Why? Is it because I'm weak?"

"I know you could fight but not against these people with advanced weapons. You got badly hurt because of them."

"I didn't die, right? I just need to learn how to fight and I'll be fine-"

"You're lucky that you could defeat those men because they don't use advanced weapons, unlike that one who nearly choked you to death! Why are you being so stubborn?!"

"Stubborn? Me?? You won the Ring battle because of your stubbornness and luck! Why I feel like I am NOT allowed to fight just because I wanted to?!!"

"I've lost my old man in this future world and I don't want to lose anyone again!"

"I don't want to lose anyone either! My parents are still missing-!"

I yelled too much that I almost strained my throat. I stopped talking and I was taking a few deep breaths. Yamamoto and Reborn were watching me and they started to worry about my condition.

"You better stop yelling, [Name]. You are going to lose your voice soon enough," Reborn warned.

"...I know..." I muttered. "...I know..."

"[Name], I-"

I stood up and I started to walk off from the training room. Yamamoto wanted to apologise and I did not give him a chance to do it. I probably had interrupted his training and walking off was the only thing I could do for him.

After all, I did not have the right to fight against the Millefiore Famiglia.

"[Name]!! It's youuu!!"

I heard Lambo's loud voice and I turned around. He was running and later leapt towards me. I managed to catch him with my arms and I smiled at him as he started to babble on about what he had been doing in the future world. I could talk although my throat was still sore after yelling too much.

"That's brave of you, Lambo. Even I am not brave enough to face the bad people."

"Hehe, don't worry. Lambo-san will protect you from any bad people," Lambo took out a grenade from his thick afro hair. "Lambo-san will bomb the bad people with this weapon of mine."

"You're so thoughtful. By the way, where's Tsuna and others?"

"Hmph! Lambo-san won't talk to Tsuna ever again!"

"Huh? Why is that so?"

"Because he scolded me! That's why!"

"Um, did you do anything wrong to make him so mad?"

"Nooo, I didn't do anything wronggg!" Lambo whined. "I just want to play with him and he just shouted at me!"

"Ah, is that so? Maybe I should make him apologise. Is it alright with you?"

Lambo was about to say yes when we heard someone else was coming. Tsuna was on his way to the spot we were standing and Lambo jumped off from my arms, running away without telling me where he was going. The brunette heard us and his eyes widened with shock to see me around. The same reaction and questions from others I had met. I stopped him from talking and I smiled at him.

"It's been long after you went missing, Tsuna. If you're free, could we find somewhere to sit and have a proper talk?"

"...sure. I still have a lot of time before my next training."


	19. apology

Tsuna and I were sitting outside the room where Chrome was resting. Once I heard that she was in a critical condition earlier, I told the brunette that I wanted to see her. He was reluctant for first until when he decided to check on her as well. If it was not because of the Vongola's Mist ring, she would not be able to survive after losing her illusionary organs.

We still did not have any news if the future Mukuro was either dead or alive. I strongly hoped that he was out there without being caught by the Millefiore Famiglia.

After visiting Chrome, we soon spending some time talking about our current life in the future world. Tsuna had been telling everything to me since he and our other friends had been missing from the present time for many days. I could imagine how he and others went through while I was still at school, wondering about their absence.

The ones who were still not being switched by their past selves were the future Hibari and the future Sasagawa Ryohei.

Tsuna was done with his story, so it was my turn to tell mine. He had been listening without interrupting. He waited until I was done.

"You are not the only one, [Name]. Some of us here got attacked the moment we arrived in this future world. Chrome met up with one of the top officers from Millefiore and she managed to defeat him with the Vongola's ring and Mukuro's help."

"Is she alright?"

"She was badly hurt and Kyoko's brother was there to bring her out. Well, something bad happened to the future Mukuro and she was losing all her illusionary organs. Luckily, Hibari-san came in to help her create her missing organs with that ring she's holding."

"...what on earth he's doing?" I frowned. "Don't tell me he's going against that Millefiore boss on his own?"

"Huh?? What makes you think like that?"

"...I'm only guessing. I don't even know where he was."

"But I think you're brilliant, [Name]. You could think of the simplest way to defeat those men by creating your version of slingshots. I'm so glad that Hibari-san came just in time to save you."

"Thanks, but it's just my luck. Those men were not even using their advanced weapons and flames. The only one who used it was the one trying to choke me to death."

"[Name], Yamamoto just wants to make sure you would not risk your life again. The loss of his father made him even more protective of everyone he cared."

"I know...I feel bad for him, but at least he knows about his father," I replied with a low tone. "What about my parents? They escaped and I was not sure if they are safe or not. I'm just afraid that they-"

"They would be caught by the Millefiore?" Tsuna politely interrupted. "The last thing I knew about my parents' whereabouts was that they were in Italy for a holiday. Until now, I don't know where they are."

The brunette smiled and he placed one of his hands on my shoulder. I turned to look at him before he continued to talk.

"You're not alone, [Name]. We can do this. We will try our best to defeat the Millefiore Famiglia so that we can return home together."

"Thanks..." I smiled back at him before I grinned. "Maybe you should start by apologising to Lambo and Haru."

"...great, something I dreaded the most."

"Why is that?"

"I yelled at them for no reason. I'm not sure if they could forgive me..."

"Of course they will forgive you, Tsuna."

"How can you be sure about it?"

"Children forgets easily once you say sorry to them. Or better, just give Lambo some sweets and say sorry at the same time."

"What about Haru?"

"Just apologise to her. It's the only right thing to do. Haru could understand if you at least explain that you didn't mean to yell at her."

"Well, if only you could come with me..."

"Nah, you go alone."

"Ehh?? W-why??"

"I want to apologise to Yamamoto too. Our argument is going to give him more pressure during his training, so I better get it done."

"[Name]..."

"Yes, Tsuna?"

"...if you want to fight with us, I won't stop you. But please, don't ever strain yourself if you're still hurt."

"Thank you so much for giving me a chance."

* * *

I was in the girls' room and both Kyoko and Haru were looking for some clothes for me to wear. Kyoko mentioned that the future Kurokawa Hana had bought lots of clothes that was enough for us to wear. We shared our stories and I told them that I fell from somewhere else after being chased by those men in black. Rather than saying I nearly got killed by one of them.

"You managed to escape from those men but you fell from the hill?" Kyoko sighed lightly. "You need to be careful, [Name]. You're still clumsy after arriving in this future world."

"It's pretty scary in this world but there's nothing to worry about. Tsuna and others are going to figure out how to return to our present time," said Haru happily. "I can't wait to go to the theme park with Tsuna~"

"Hm, I guess he's already apologising to you, right?"

"Yes, and I forgive him. I told him that if he needs anything, he could find me or any of us here."

"I'm glad to hear that, Haru..."

Kyoko soon gave me some clothes and she seemed to remember something when she saw the school uniform that I was still wearing.

"Hey, [Name]. I remembered you said that you were pretty busy with your housekeeping work at Hibari's house. Is everything alright before you got trapped in this world?"

She was right. I had been away for quite a long time that I had forgotten about what was the last thing I did at present. Hibari's grandfather held an important meeting in the house and all I did was a few housekeeping works before I was allowed to have a days break.

"Yeah, I am. Once I was done with my work, I took the opportunity to look for all of you."

"Is everyone asking about our disappearance?" Kyoko asked.

"Almost everyone especially your brother. He's been really worried that he kept on running around the school and the Namimori area just to look for you."

"Ah, right. I knew he would be worried."

"Since you came here, did you ever think that Hibari from the present time would go around to look for you?" asked Haru with interest.

"...I don't know. I'm not sure if he realises that I had been missing for days..."

Kyoko and Haru noticed my expression when I thought about Hibari from the present time. They soon tried to cheer me up.

"You miss him, right?" Kyoko smiled. "You'll get to meet him soon enough once Tsuna and others are done with their important mission."

"S-since when I said that I miss him?" my face grew a little redder. "He only cares about the school anyway."

"Ah, did you meet his future self?" Haru asked eagerly. "What do you think of him, [Name]?"

"...his future self? He's getting even scarier than his past self. If I did not know who was he, I would have just run away from him."

"Scary? I'm expecting that you'll say he's much more mature in this era."

They knew that I was working for Hibari as his handmaiden but ever since the day he kissed me on the stage, both of them and Hana could not stop guessing if both of us were a couple or not. While they thought it was such a sweet thing, they did not know that I often had my forehead being hit with his finger for the clumsy and silly mistakes I did. Would I get a worse treatment in the future with the skylark's future self?

"Yeah, he's probably more mature. My future self already started to call by his nickname..."

"Wow, for real??" Haru exclaimed. "I told you that both of you will be together soon enough~"

I could not stop thinking that my future self was already dating with the skylark's future self. I ended up excusing myself to change my clothes so that I could avoid that awkward conversation. As soon as I was done changing, I removed the bandages from both of my legs and my neck. Thanks to my healing ability, there were no scars from my legs and my neck.

I wanted to go to the kitchen to get some water and at the same time, Yamamoto was leaving that place and he saw me with his surprised look. We were staring at each other before we looked away, feeling a little uncomfortable. I was attempting to start talking and he was doing it the same as I did. He later allowed me to talk first before he could do so.

"I...I'm sorry for not considering about your feelings after your father died. The way I yelled at you...makes you think that I'm such a selfish person, right?"

"...actually, I want to apologise to you too, [Name]. I don't want to lose more people I cared the most, that's why I've been training so hard to defeat the Millefiore family. Sorry for not letting you join the fight. I am selfish as well but I don't want anything bad happened to you."

"Thanks for your great concern, Yamamoto. I'm not going to hurt myself," I smiled. "I want to work hard as well so that we could return to the present time together. I remember that we have many things to do in our time."

"You're right. Let's give our best for the upcoming fight."

I was so glad that we became friends just like how it used to be. Yamamoto was much more confident and he was aiming to try defeating Reborn in the training room. Time was running out and I need to find someone who could teach me how to fight in this future world.

I was thinking of asking Gokudera to teach me but he locked himself up in the data room for his important training. Tsuna was being taught by someone named Lal Mirch, Reborn's acquaintance and he was currently resting. I thought it was a good idea to ask the future Sasagawa Ryohei to be my tutor when I ended up doubting the way he taught someone.

I could not forget that he was the one who started to mess up the script during our skit. Gokudera once told me that he was the absolute worst swimmer and yet trying to teach Tsuna to swim. I was not doubting his true ability to fight and his duty as the Vongola Sun guardian. It was just that he was not my type of tutor I wanted.

There was only one person who could teach me how to fight. The most dangerous, yet the safest option I could think of.

I was back in Hibari's secret base as I was looking for him. The only person I found was senior Kusakabe's future self, who was seen playing with I-Pin and Lambo. I called out for them so that they knew I was coming to see them. The children were happy to see me as they ran and babbling about their life in this world. Senior Kusakabe came to me and he was greeting me with respect. The same way he did to Hibari and I was curious about why he would greet me that way.

"Sorry for asking, senior Kusakabe. Why are you greeting so formally to me?"

"What do you mean about that?"

"Well, in middle school, you only call me by my last name though I am working for Hibari-san. That makes me wonder why you started to call my first name."

Senior Kusakabe knew that I was from the present time but he got so used to greet me in his way. He was not sure if he should tell me or not. Maybe a little truth would not hurt much.

"What is happening here?"

The two of us heard a cold voice from behind and we turned around. The older skylark was standing with his arms crossed and he looked a little annoyed. Probably because the older Ryohei kept on telling him to have a fistfight. Senior Kusakabe decided to excuse himself while bringing Lambo and I-Pin along with him. As I remembered my real purpose, I did ask the future Hibari to train me for the upcoming battle.

He once refused and I was not going to give up asking all over again.

"Fine. You better not regretting after this, [Name]."


	20. resolution

Since I was coming into the future world later than others, I missed a lot of things, especially the knowledge about the Dying Will Flames. Tsuna once mentioned that I might need to take a long time to ignite the dying will flame from the ring. Sounded quite easy but it was much harder than I thought.

"Uh, are you sure you want to wait for me to light up the flame from this ring?"

I was either feeling awkward or uncomfortable when the older Hibari patiently waited for me to ignite the flame from my future self's ring. If he was his present self, he would hit me for being too slow.

"Is there anything wrong?" he asked curiously.

"N-no, nothing wrong," I shook my head. "I'm just afraid that I might waste a lot of your time."

"I am fine with it. Besides, it won't take long for you to light up your dying will flame."

Both of us were in the training room and I was trying so hard to at least light up whatever dying will flames I had. All I need to know that my resolution was the key to awaken my dying will flame.

Fifteen minutes had passed and I still could not do it. I sighed and I gripped my hair with frustration.

"...I'm sorry. I can't do it..."

"You give up that fast? You almost make it, [Name]."

"I tried and there's no result," I groaned. "If only I could just fight off with normal weapons or my hands against the enemies."

"You have no choice, [Name]. Without your dying will flames, you are not able to survive any longer in this world."

"...then, what am I supposed to do?"

The older skylark did not complain further and he went near to me, flicking his finger gently against my forehead.

"Start by stop whining about something you did not achieve. Now, I'll tell you what you should know about yourself."

"About me?"

"Have you ever wondered why your minor wounds healed on its own?"

"...I got this strange ability because of the Estraneo Famiglia's experiment. What does it have to do with my supposed dying will flames?"

"Of course it has something to do with it, [Name]."

"Are you trying to say that the flames are the one that healed my minor wounds?"

"That's right. The real question is what flame that heals your minor wounds?"

I never bother to know about my strange ability because it was painfully reminded me of my traumatic past, being the Estraneo Famiglia's test subject. I was rather surprised that it was the flames that healed my wounds and I need to figure out which flame was it.

"...is it, Cloud Flame?" I answered.

"Why do you think it is a Cloud Flame?"

"Because it's the only flame that could multiply anything compared to other flames."

"That's right. This flame can multiply the cells in your body. The stronger the flame, the faster the healing," the older Hibari explained. "Rokudo Mukuro from this era once told me that those researchers were the ones injecting a large amount of this flame inside your body."

"Well, if I did have it, why I can't ignite it that easily??"

"Your resolution is the key."

"Like how??"

"When you got hurt, what was the first thing that comes into your mind?"

I was silent for a few minutes and I started to recall the times I was injured.

"...when I got hurt, I wanted to ignore the pain I had so that I could play with other children. It felt like magic when I saw my wound healed on its own but I was soon labelled as a freak when they saw it. I tried not to get myself injured until I came to Namimori Middle school. When those Varia henchmen tried to kill me, I immediately ignored the pain I suffered so that I could defeat them."

A light sigh escaped from my lips as I continued to speak.

"Deep in my heart, I just want to be accepted. I do not want my dark past to stop me from becoming what I want to be. That is why I am trying my best to be as strong as everyone."

I felt a strange warmth from my finger and my eyes were looking at the ring that was coated with purple flames.

I could not believe it. Was that my dying will flames?

"Good job, you finally did it," the older skylark patted my shoulders.

"Is this my dying will flames? For real?"

"What else did you expect? Next, try opening one of your boxes to see the weapon your future self possess."

I nodded and I took out one of the box weapons, inserting the purple flame in it. The box was opened and a long steel staff appeared in front of me. The steel staff felt neither light nor heavy once I took it with my hands.

"I...I did not expect to know that I fight with this long steel staff,"

"She chose to use it as her weapon," he added and he was already prepared with his steel tonfas at his hands. "Let us begin with our next training. You can start to attack me, [Name]."

"H-huh??" my eyes widened with shock. "You want me to...attack you??"

"What's wrong? Are you ready to give up?"

"M-maybe, let us just stop here, okay?" I smiled nervously.

"Too bad," he smirked and he was activating his Cloud Flames. "I won't allow you to leave until you manage to hit me."

"W-wait!! I'm not ready yet, Hibari-san!"

Long short story, I spent more than two hours just to defeat him. No wonder he told me not to regret my decision.

* * *

The day before the battle against the Millefiore Famiglia. Tsuna, Gokudera and Yamamoto were well prepared for tomorrow's important day. I met the three of them at the same time and they could not wait to show their potential after training for five days.

"[Name], you are going to join us for tomorrow's fight against the Millefiore?" Tsuna asked.

"Yeah, I'm joining," I nodded. "At least I want to give them another payback for trying to annihilate me days ago."

"It's not just a normal fight, woman," Gokudera added while looking at me with his disbelief look. "I do hope that you are well prepared or you'll end up becoming their winning prize."

"Thank you so much for your concern," I gave a small grin. "You really should keep an eye on your cat or they are the one who becomes the enemy's winning prize."

"What did you just say?!" the silver-haired retorted and Tsuna had to stop him from trying to throw dynamite at me.

"We can finally get proper rest, [Name]," Yamamoto spoke out and he flashed his usual smile. "Let us try our best for tomorrow's big day."

"I agree. I hope that we could get through it so that we could return home."

The three of them agreed with my statement. While waiting for the dinner, Tsuna excused himself to look for something important and I realised that I did not have the chance to visit my future self's room. I decided to check it out on my own before Lambo and I-Pin found me and they tag along as well.

The room was locked with a password and I managed to open it after remembering it from my future self's bag. The other two went inside and they already started to jump on the bed, giggling excitedly. I smiled looking at them and I noticed that the desk was quite messy, filled with some books, newspaper clippings and crumpled papers.

There was one newspaper article that caught my attention and it was from the old times. It was written in the French language and there was a translation note clipped with it.

_**60 KILLED IN THE TRAIN CRASH** _

_Roughly a week after the end of the influenza pandemic that took many lives in Italy, 60 passengers were killed in a train crash, leaving the surviving 1,100 passengers. They were believed to be on their way back from France to Italy after months they were barred from returning to the country that was hit with the influenza virus. The cause of the train crash was still unknown and the authorities were hoping that they could solve this case before allowing other passengers to continue boarding the same train to Italy._

I was wondering why my future self would be engrossed with this old news and I took another paper to read it out.

**_The train crash that happened in between France and North Italy remains a mystery. The authorities could only come up with a theory that it could be someone sabotaged the train or the train operator's carelessness._ **

I grew even more curious. What exactly caused the train crash that happened in the past?

Lambo started to groan loudly and he mentioned that he was hungry. I placed the papers back on the table and I brought both of them to the kitchen. Tsuna and others soon joined and we were having some sort of a party before tomorrow's battle.

I probably had forgotten about that train crash tragedy. Was it so important?

* * *

I often had strange dreams whenever I slept but this dream made me more curious than anything.

I was standing in a cold dark alley and it did not look like Namimori or any streets in Japan. It was more like from another foreign country. It felt quite real since I could feel the chillness in that alley.

The silence was cut off with a sound of footsteps coming to where I was standing. I started to feel nervous and I wanted to run away.

My legs were not moving a muscle.

Right in front of my eyes, there was a tall figure appeared and he looked quite exhausted. I could not see him clearly except that he had short, messy silver-blond hair. He seemed glad to have found me and he quickly gestured to come over to him.

_"...hurry, we need to leave now."_

I raised my eyebrow and I could only hear some words from his mouth. What was he trying to say?

_"...the train's coming. We could see him there..."_

The train? Who were we going to meet? Was it someone important to us?

_"...he's not going to die. He survived from that virus outbreak. Come on, he's waiting for us..."_

Virus outbreak? Just the right time when we were supposed to fight against the Millefiore Famiglia? Wait, the virus outbreak? The influenza pandemic, was he talking about that one?

I was completely confused and yet, I quickly went towards that figure. I could almost see his face when I heard another voice calling out for my name. I did not want to wake up yet as I was so close to knowing what was happening in my dream.

The other voice grew stronger and I soon opened my eyes with my sleepy look. It took me some time for me to see who was sitting beside my bed.

"You finally awake?"

"Y-yeah..." I answered and I realised that my eyes were looking at the older skylark's chest (he was wearing a black _kinagashi_ ). My cheeks grew redder and I tried to look at somewhere else. "Still early, is it the time to attack?"

"Yes and both of us will head to the storeroom, two kilometres away from our secret base," he explained.

"Only both of us? What about Tsuna and others?"

"You don't need to worry about them. We'll deal with the Millefiore soldiers to make their job easier once they woke up."

"I get it but is it alright for me to deal with those soldiers?"

"If you could defeat those Milliefiore men in your grandmother's house, why not giving this one a try?"

He knew that I was half-prepared but I could not waste more time. It was the day to fight and I could not turn back. I chose to fight along with my friends and I would not let them down.

"I'll do my best, Hibari-san. Please give me some space to get ready."


	21. battle

The older skylark and I were the first to attack the Millefiore's soldiers when they finally arrived at the Vongola's secret base. He simply lured them to the secret base's old storage room, which was two kilometres away from the secret base. The soldiers were angered and it was up to them to defeat both of us and this gave more chance for Tsuna and others to break into the Millefiore's secret base in Japan without interruption.

The soldiers were no match against him and they were easily defeated. Some were trying to fight against me for they thought I was much weaker than the older Hibari. They were right about it but I was fully trained and prepared. I managed to defeat some of them and that was when I met that same man who tried to strangle me to death when I first arrived in this future world.

He was stronger than other soldiers but he had an unsteady move. I could see that he could not even walk properly while fighting. The only advantage was he could use his box weapon to attack without him moving around. A grin was formed on his face and it seemed that he had another chance to kill me again.

He instructed his box weapon to directly attack me and I would not stand there waiting to be killed. I started to run at him while using my steel staff to hit his box weapon repeatedly.

"N-No way! No one could ever take down my precious box weapon! How could you do that??"

"Is that so? As if I care about it."

I swing my steel staff and harshly hit at his legs, causing him to fall on the ground. Before he could stand up, I whacked his large chest with my staff and he soon passed out. The other soldiers were in shock to see that their senior was finally defeated.

We were quick to take down all of them and we were going to break into the Millefiore's secret base, disguising as the soldiers. At first, I disagree with the older Hibari when he said that we would bring along Chrome, Lambo and I-Pin because it was way too dangerous for the three of them. I knew that they were the chosen Vongola guardians but I was worried about their safety.

Chrome heard about it and she weakly smiled, deciding to follow us as she wanted to do her part as the Vongola guardian. She wanted to repay the older skylark for teaching her to create illusionary organs on her own. Lambo and I-Pin were excited that they did not want to stay in the secret base.

"Okay, fine. Just listen to Kusakabe-san and please behave yourselves when we are at there, okay?"

"Lambo-san will be a gooood boy!" he said proudly. "Lambo-san shall explode the bad people there!"

Senior Kusakabe would take care of the children and he set off to another direction of the Millefiore's base with Chrome. I was hoping that they would be safe and I followed the older Hibari to the other way of the base.

There was an awkward moment for both of us. Most of the time, I only talked to him about the missions and the Vongola stuff but I never asked about his life and my older self.

"Um, Hibari-san," I awkwardly asked. "How is your life in this era?"

"I'm doing well," he answered shortly.

"Alright. I'm just wondering if...if I'm..."

"If you what?"

"...if I am still your handmaiden in this era?"

He stopped walking and I was standing still, waiting for his possible response. He turned around and a small smirk appeared. I probably should not have asked.

"Well, more than a handmaiden, [Name]. I'm pretty impressed that you would ask this question."

"What do you mean by more than a handmaiden?" I grew confused.

"Yes, more than that," he did smile and his hand gently tucked my hair behind my ear. "I would love to see your reaction but I think it is best not to tell you about it. Let it be a surprise when you grow older, [Name]."

My face grew redder when I could feel his hand tucking my hair and my eyes did look at a certain ring on his finger. It was not any normal Cloud ring but a simple-looking engagement ring.

He was engaged? With who? I might be pessimistic but I would not think that he would engage with my future self because anything could happen in the present time.

"Wait, I need to ask."

"What is it, [Name]?"

"I was in my future self's room and I saw her messy desk. I mean, she was engrossed with the train crash that happened in Italy many years ago. Why was she getting interested in it?"

He did not say anything and clearly, he knew it too.

"She has her reasons. Maybe someday, you will understand why."

"How is that I would understand? I even had a dream that might be related to that train crash."

"Wait, did you say dream? What did you see in it?"

I was about to answer when both of us felt a sudden earthquake in the Millefiore's base. The whole place was shaking vigorously that made both of us stumbled from where we stood. The floor split into two all of a sudden and the floor I was standing was going up as if I was in the lift. I froze and I was not sure what I should do while my widened eyes looking down at the older Hibari.

"[Name]! Jump out from that spot!" shouted the older skylark with his worried look.

"I-I can't! It's too high!" I yelled back. I was too scared to do anything but if I did not do it, we were bound to be separated.

"Just jump out now before it's too late!"

"I told you I can't!! What if I slipped and died?!"

That such fear in my heart made me saying out nonsense things. The older Hibari was silent for a moment and he held out both of his arms. A gentle smile was formed across his lips.

"Don't worry, [Name]. Jump out now and I'll catch you."

A strange flashback came across my mind. I did fell from a building and someone caught me at the right time. What kind of memory was this?

I shook my head and I tried not to think of anything bad. He was still waiting for me to jump. I took a deep breath and I jumped out from that moving floor. He managed to catch me and I hugged him tightly. Several minutes later, the noises, the moving floors and walls were stopped.

"I-I'm sorry..." I muffled quietly.

"I told you that I'll catch you, [Name]."

* * *

We could not afford to waste more time as we assumed that Kusakabe and Chrome had found Gokudera and the older Sasagawa Ryohei. At least we discovered that one of the Millefiore's captains, Irie Shoichi had changed all the secret base's location with his box weapon. That explained why there was a sudden earthquake and it means that the location to the secret laboratory had changed. We were still together but we might be further away from the place we should head to. We had been walking for quite a long time until he gestured me to stop before he said anything.

"I sense something here."

"Are we at the secret laboratory?"

"No, but I could feel a hostile presence behind this wall, " the older Hibari touched the wall in front of us and he took out a purple ring and a box weapon. "Stay back a little, [Name]."

"What are you going to do now?"

"Smash through the wall. We are going to meet someone behind this wall," he explained as he lit up the ring and injecting the purple cloud flame inside his box weapon. The hedgehog appeared and later turned into a large, round spiky ball. It was spinning violently and crashed through the wall.

A swordsman with weird-looking eyebrows was standing at his spot. The older Hibari asked about the location of the white round object but the swordsman refused to answer. Instead, he used his box weapon as well and the whole landscape around us was covered like we were trapped in the forest. It was not real leaves and the older Hibari hated illusions.

The real reason why he could see through all the illusions.

"[Name], go and take care of the other two. I'll deal with this man."

I nodded and I went to the unconscious Yamamoto and Lal Mirch. I shook both of them gently but none of them woke up. They were heavily injured and I started to worry about my other friends. I still have no news from Tsuna and senior Kusakabe.

While tending both of them, I watched the insane fight between the older Hibari and that mist swordsman. They were too fast that I kept my eyes open without blinking. I quickly lit up my cloud ring and used the cloud flame as a barrier to avoid me and the other two from getting hurt. The older skylark used one of his box weapons to dispel the illusion around the area and instead of leaves or vines dropping on my flame barrier...

There were a huge number of sea slugs dropping from above.

" _Spettro Nudibranchi_ (Spectral sea slugs). You are the first and the last person to see my box weapon."

My mind was screaming in agony when all the sea slugs were coming to surround us. The older Hibari could easily dodge them but seeing these creatures flying around was one of my worst nightmares.

He was standing near me and I noticed his troubled look. His other hand was holding three lower grade cloud rings and he looked like he was prepared for his last fight. He turned to look at me and once again, he gave a small smile to me.

"When I open my box weapon, be careful not to get into the sphere. Stay away and just wait until he comes to this future world."

"Huh? What are you talking about? What's going on?"

"You will get to see him soon enough, [Name]."

"...Hibari-san," the tears were about to roll out from my eyes. "You are not planning to do something silly, right?"

"Do I look like I want to kill myself?"

"What if it is?"

"I'm going to be fine. I could honestly think that you miss my younger self than me." He wiped off my tears with his hand. "I'm glad to meet you at this time." For now, this should be our farewell."

I nodded once and I merely watched him opening his box weapon with his last three rings. The other was surprised as he had never seen anyone to open their box weapon with more than one ring. The spike sphere grew larger from his hands and everything was way too bright that I could not see anything. After some time, I opened up my eyes and all I saw was a large spike sphere, trapping both of them from inside.

He said that it was our farewell. Did he mean that he was going to die at the end? I could not accept it and I knew he could defeat that swordsman. The tears that rolled from my eyes were trying to shatter my hopes for him to at least stay alive.

_**CRACK!** _

I heard a loud cracking sound as I looked up. The spike sphere was breaking and slowly collapsed. The only one who was still standing was that mist swordsman with his exhausted, terrified look.

My eyes widened with horror. Did he finally kill him off?

I heard a bird singing my middle school's song and it was flying around, looking for something to land on. So that was what he meant after all.

Hibird soon stopped singing and was landing on someone's finger behind the dust and debris.

The ten years younger Hibari Kyoya finally arrived in the dreadful, future world.


	22. dream

He would often mention that he had a tight schedule and he also told me that this would be our farewell. He already knew that his past self would be coming to the future world.

I wanted to be honest. I did miss his past self. I was so glad to see him arriving in the future world.

Still, I wished that he would stop reminding that swordsman about his strange eyebrows-

_This is not a school, Hibari-san! We are in a freaking, dreadful future world!_

I would have shouted at him but I did not do it. He was confused and he did not know what he was supposed to do. He was looking around and he finally saw me sitting on the ground with the unconscious Yamamoto and Lal Mirch. He did have many things to ask me and his first words to me were...

"Herbivore, where have you been for the past few weeks?"

I was stunned for a moment and my mouth twitched a little.

"...damn it. Is that the first thing you ask me?"

"Did you just say something?"

"N-nothing, I-"

"I hear your words, herbivore."

Whether I wanted to argue or not, that swordsman was looking for a chance to kill everyone here. I shook my head hard before I tried to think of what I should say to Hibari.

"F-forget about it, we are now in a critical situation and that man over there is trying to kill us here!"

"Trying to kill us here?"

"Yes, that's him! The one you're commenting about his weird eyebrows!"

He was probably half listening to me and he went on to ask the other about the unconscious Yamamoto. The swordsman admitted that he had defeated him and Hibari decided to punish him for attacking a student from Namimori Middle school.

"W-wait! You can't just directly attack him-!"

Too late. That swordsman already hit his head with the hilt of his sword and he was sent flying, further away from my position. Gokudera would like to see this scene all over again.

Even if Hibari managed to stand up after receiving that harsh hit, he was not strong enough to defeat the swordsman unless he knew how to light up his original Cloud Ring and use the box weapons. The other was taking this opportunity to defeat him with the help of his Mist Flames.

The skylark was surrounded by few hundreds of hidden missiles and he could not see any of them. I quickly lit up my ring as well to create a barrier to protect him until I felt a sharp pain from my right arm.

"You're not supposed to interrupt the battle. I shall deal with you after I'm done with that kid."

The swordsman already threw a small dagger at me and it did slash my right arm. The wound was quite deep and it would not stop bleeding. Hibari did see my injury and he was enraged. As much he wanted to run at my spot, he could not do it.

Seconds later, Gokudera already activated his box weapon and using his barriers to protect Hibari from those hidden missiles.

"Heh, I've returned your favour..."

I turned around and I saw him limping with senior Kusakabe, who also brought along the future Sasagawa Ryohei, Chrome, Lambo and I-Pin. They came just in time but seeing them in that messed up state, this was making the situation even worse. Senior Kusakabe was ignoring the threats of being fired from the Disciplinary Committee and had been telling Hibari to use the ring and the box weapons to fight.

I wanted to help. Although I did have the healing ability, I started to grow a little tired.

"I don't know what the box weapons are, but I do know about the ring's flames."

I was really surprised that Hibari could light up his Cloud Ring easily and the Cloud Flames he was possessing was strong and intense. Someone did teach him how to do it and I was secretly grateful to them. Hibari decided to listen to senior Kusakabe's words and picking up one of the box weapons to open it.

Due to a large number of flames injected in the box, the Cloud hedgehog appeared drunk and it accidentally hurt Hibari's hand with one of its spikes. The hedgehog was traumatised and it was multiplying itself with overwhelming speed.

Ignoring my injury, I carried Lal Mirch and Chrome was placing one of her arms at my shoulders. Lambo and I-Pin were leading all of us to another empty room. As long as we were not getting hurt by those spherical spikes, it should be fine.

It got worse when the entrance behind us locked and the walls began closing in. We were bound to be crushed if we did not do anything.

I remembered when the older Hibari told me something important back then. He gave me a box weapon and told me only use it when there was no other choice.

"[Name], what are you trying to do?!" senior Kusakabe called out with worry.

"I don't know, but I'm thinking to try stopping the walls from closing in!" I replied loudly.

"It's no use! Any flames would not be able to destroy the walls!"

"We won't know if I didn't try-!"

Hibari was gripping my wrist tightly and his eyes were glaring at me.

"If that involves your life, then I won't allow you to do so."

"You want us to get crushed by the walls??"

"Enough with your injury, I don't want to see you getting hurt again."

He blamed himself when that swordsman attacked me. He did not want to witness my death if I did something recklessly again. I placed my hand on his hand and I gripped it.

"I won't try to hurt myself. Please trust me, Hibari-san."

He was hesitating and once the walls were getting closer, he released my wrist and I was able to open the box weapon. Something came out from the box and it was flying above before it created a huge explosion. The thick grey smoke surrounded the whole area and we soon blacked out.

I did not know how long I had been asleep after that.

* * *

I found myself sitting on the bed and it was dark at night. Like my previous unknown dream, this place was different from Japan. The moment I turned around, I was shocked to see a silver blond-haired man sleeping beside me. It felt so real that I nearly screamed and he seemed to not notice any movements I made.

His face looked exhausted as if he had not enough sleep. Did he overwork himself? That was when I heard a child crying from another room. His eyebrows furrowed a little before he slowly sat up, rubbing his tired eyes.

_"It's fine. I'll check on him. You should get more rest since you're still recovering from sickness."_

He stood up as he walked out of the room, leaving me with my tangled thoughts. I jumped out of the bed as well and followed that man from behind. He opened the other door's room and there was a child wrapped himself with a thick blanket.

The child's eyes were filled with tears and he was afraid of something. The man knelt and he started to talk with the child with his softest tone I could hear.

_"Why are you crying?"_

_"...I'm scared..."_

_"Scared of what?"_

_"...there's a ghost...in that wardrobe..."_

_"A ghost? Is it still in there?"_

The child nodded his head and he pointed his finger at the small wardrobe. I grew much more nervous when the man took his steps forward to open the wardrobe.

He did open it, and it was too dark to see what was inside. I was walking forward and I could see a small figure sitting in the wardrobe with their face buried on their knees.

_"Who are you? Why are you hiding in this place?"_

The man's voice sounded cold and he was ready to grab that figure if they started to move. My fingertips were shivering and I hated the idea that I knew who was in the wardrobe.

Their head was lifting upwards slowly and they were giving the creepiest smile that matched with their bloody eyes.

Those eyes were directly looking at me, not that silver blond-haired man.

That small figure was my broken child self. They leap towards me in sudden and I screamed with horror.

"[Name], what's wrong?"

Once I heard Mukuro's voice, the surroundings had changed and I found myself standing in a garden. It was a quick transition and I did not see that small figure anywhere. Or that man and his child.

Only the grown-up Rokudo Mukuro. He was still the same except that he was much taller and had a long hair that was tied in a ponytail. His face was quite pale and I was guessing that he used up all his power and energy after he fought against Byakuran.

"...you're alive, right?"

"Hm? What do you think?"

"What do I think?" I glared at him. "Who's the one go on and fight with that marshmallow freak all on his own??"

The older Mukuro laughed a little and there was a guilty look from his eyes.

"It's my own mistake for belittling his powers. Because of me, I nearly end Nagi's life."

"Wait, don't blame yourself. Chrome is doing fine now-"

"All thanks to Hibari Kyoya. But still, it's my fault for putting her life in danger. I completely forget everything as I was more focusing on defeating Byakuran."

"Then, how did you escape?"

"A certain brat helped me a lot, maybe you'll get to see him soon enough."

He placed his hand on top of my head and gently brushed my hair. It was quite a long time ever since he last touched my head.

"Not bad, you did adapt well in the future world."

"Really?"

"You've grown stronger than before. I guess that you finally knew the secret behind your healing ability."

"I was surprised about it too."

"Say, why did you scream in sudden? Did you see something scary?"

I started to explain about the dream I had and I told him that a small figure was the one frightened me. I even told him the recent strange dreams and something that my future self had been studying in her room.

"So, how many times did you meet this man?"

"Twice. One, when he was taking me to the train. Another one was when I...I was sleeping beside him. But he often talked to me as if I'm his...wife. I had no idea why I have these strange dreams and I could not bring myself to tell these to Hibari-san."

"It is up to you, [Name]."

"Up to me? How is that so?"

"I may think that he doesn't like it if you keep on hiding things from him. It is simply your decision if you want to tell him or not. You will need to face the consequences after making your choice."

"You're right. He hates it if I keep everything from him."

"Find the right time to tell him. As for this man, he probably wants to tell you something important. Your future self already knew it and she had been progressing with it."

"Even those old news about the train crash in Italy? What does it have to do with it?"

"It is out from my knowledge. You will have to find out on your own."

The older illusionist was looking up and his lips formed a small grin. He turned to look at me and pinching my nose a little.

"You've been sleeping way too long, [Name]. That poor skylark is waiting for you to wake up."

"Too long?" I raised my eyebrow. "It's like minutes to me."

"You're going to be late for school," he chuckled. "Once you wake up, please take good care of yourself. Byakuran is not someone you want to play with."

"Is he that dangerous?"

"He is the real threat for the whole world and universe. This is why we, the future selves are counting on your dear friend, Sawada Tsunayoshi to save the world."

Hearing his words, I never want to open my eyes to see the future world and that Millefiore boss named Byakuran. I rather sleep than facing this kind of nightmare.

Whatever it was, running away was never going to solve the problem. 


	23. visit

Sasagawa Ryohei was the last to arrive in the future world and thanks to him, we did not teleport along with the Millefiore's secret base. I missed half of the story while I was unconscious, so I was with senior Ryohei in one room while Tsuna, Gokudera and Yamamoto spending their whole few hours to explain the whole situation.

Even after senior Ryohei managed to understand the whole story, Gokudera was not convinced and they went on arguing at each other (including slamming the table against the wall). I could not blame senior since he spent five weeks looking for us in the present time (though he was mostly worried about his missing sister, Kyoko).

"Hey, [Name]!"

"Y-yes, senior?" I jumped with shock after he called out at me loudly.

"Did you have to yell at her, turf-head?? She's just standing near to you!" Gokudera snapped angrily.

"Sorry, I'm getting used to it," senior Ryohei laughed. "Would it be alright if you could take me to my sister's room? I wanted to tell her a lot of things."

"Okay, I'll take you to her room."

We were walking and talking at the same time. I did explain some things he could not understand such as the upcoming Choice battle, Byakuran's schemes and his six chosen guardians and many others. He nodded his head most of the time until it was his turn to ask me some questions.

"Did you get to talk to him, [Name]?"

"Hm? Who are you referring to, senior?"

"Who else? I'm talking about Hibari."

I stopped at my tracks and he did it too with his surprised look. I woke up after talking to the older Mukuro in my dreams and I did not see that skylark around. He was not in the secret base and I was planning to look for him when Tsuna came to see me.

Was he trying to avoid me?

"No. When I woke up, he was not with me."

"Huh? Really??"

"Maybe he's busy, so he might not have time to stay by my side."

"Why all of a sudden? I thought he would be happy to see you, [Name]."

"What makes you say that, senior?"

"Well, the day when you've gone missing, he was the one kept on asking me about your whereabouts. I told him that I did not know as I had been looking for Kyoko."

"Is that so?" I sighed. "The first thing he asked me was where am I for the past few weeks."

"Let's just say that he's been worrying about you."

"How did you know that?"

"I knew him better than anyone else, [Name]. Believe it or not, I once tried to force him to join my Boxing Club."

"You...forced him to join your club?"

"Yeah, but I mistook Kusakabe as Hibari and I kept on telling him to join my club. At least after a small incident happened to me, he allowed me to keep my Boxing Club but with one strict condition."

"What condition?"

"I must never force him to join my club."

"No wonder you didn't drag him along despite being the strongest student in the school." I smiled at him before it faltered. "He's not avoiding me, right?"

"Avoiding you??" senior Ryohei looked baffled. "I don't think so. He's been standing beside you when you're still asleep at the Millefiore's base ruins. Not forget to mention that he's been grasping your hand tightly, pecking your forehead and wishing that you would wake up."

"He did what?!" I exclaimed with shock.

"That's what he did, [Name]. Some of us saw him doing that before he threatened to bite us to death."

I was not prepared for it. Did it mean that almost everyone knew about our relationship? My face grew redder with embarrassment and I shook my head hard.

"B-but...we're not even...together yet..."

"Soon enough, [Name]!" senior Ryohei clapped my shoulder as an encouragement.

Kyoko heard her brother's voice and she opened her door to see both of us outside. Her smile grew wider and I could tell that she missed her brother a lot. They did talk for a moment before he excused himself to use the bathroom.

"He's been worrying about you, Kyoko. Looks like he could relax more often."

"The world itself is quite dangerous but I am glad to see him around," Kyoko replied while smiling. "The food is going to be ready soon. Could you help me inform Tsuna and others?"

"Sure, I'll tell them."

"Oh, [Name]."

"Yes?"

"Have you ever thought of visiting your home in this world?"

"I...never thought of it. Why?"

"Well, Haru and I wanted to visit our houses from this world. I mean, we don't have the chance to venture around Namimori district, right?"

Kyoko was right. We did not have the perfect chance to walk around Namimori because we had been hiding from the Millefiore soldiers. After I got attacked by those enemies, I did not feel like wanted to step outside from the secret base.

Within ten days before the official Choice battle, Byakuran had not been doing any harm in our hometown.

"Those men in black suits are no longer around, so I guess we could have a walk."

* * *

The CEDEF agent named Basil arrived in Japan and his arrival caused a short delay for us to walk around Namimori district. Tsuna and his friends followed along to take care of us. We soon went separate ways to our supposed houses and I went back to the apartment once again.

The elderly woman named Kaede was away for a holiday with her family as explained by one of the neighbours and I was glad to hear that she was safe. I was not able to enter my apartment and I had to peek through the window to see inside.

Nothing changed except that it was a little spacious. My future self did engage with her fiancee, thus moving out to stay with him.

_"Don't ever pass by that house with a brown roof. I do not want that horrid woman to see you running away from this area."_

Kaede-san did remind me not to walk around Mizushima Risako's house. I did went to her house and trying to see how she looked like in the future.

Not only that, but I also wanted to find out the reason why she wanted the Millefiore men to catch me.

"Look, those men are no longer around, Risa-chan. Just book a flight back to Japan as soon as possible."

I turned around and I saw a woman in her fifties, carrying a basket of vegetables while talking through her phone. Once her eyes lifted to see me standing in front of her house, her face darkened with hate. She placed her phone back in her pocket before speaking coldly at me.

"What are you doing here, [Last Name]?"

"I...I'm here to see Mizushima Risako. Is she here?"

"You do know that you are the reason why she has to run away to another country, do you?"

"She ran away? How come I didn't know that??"

"Stop acting dumb, you ungrateful woman!" she snapped with anger. "If it wasn't because of you, my daughter would have been married to that man she loved since childhood!"

"Wait, I don't get it," I tried to understand the situation but she was angry at me. "What is happening here? What did I do wrong to your daughter?"

"Your head got hit by a car, is it?" she said sarcastically. "Risa-chan just wants to have a happy life with someone she loves but you ruined it. He fell for you instead of Risa-chan and you are happily engaged with him. Now you sent those men in black to kill her off. Are you f*cking happy now, [Last Name]??"

"H-hey, don't simply accuse me, madam!" I snapped. "Those men were the one who wanted to kill me, not your daughter!"

"Liar!! You're acting all mighty ever since you've brought into the Hibari clan!!"

I could have sworn that my heart stopped for a few seconds. Did she just say that I was a part of the Hibari clan?

"What do you mean by...brought into the Hibari clan?"

"Are you for real? Don't you realise that Hibari Kyoya is your fiancee?"

"He's my...fiancee?? I-I couldn't believe it-"

"I would be feeling so glad if you decided to let my daughter marry him instead of you, but I guess this will not happen. Now leave my house. I don't want a pest like you to wander around."

"I'm not leaving yet. I need to know something else-"

"Not leaving, huh?"

She took out a thermal flask from her basket and opened it before throwing hot water at me. I covered my face with my hands and the hot water eventually scalded both of my hands instead of my face. I was gasping with pain while looking at my injured hands.

"[Name]!"

I looked up and Hibari was standing just a few distances from me and that woman. He quickly came to me and he was looking closely at my hands. The woman's face turned pale after seeing him as she dropped the thermal flask.

"Are you the one throwing the hot water at her?"

"N-no, I...I wouldn't dare-"

"Dare?" Hibari said coldly and he pointed his finger at the thermal flask. "You just did it. Care to explain why you want to hurt her?"

"I-I just want to...well, it's hard to explain..."

"Hard to explain?" he took out his steel tonfa. "I can help you with that."

The woman shrieked with horror and she immediately ran back into her house. He wanted to advance further and I grabbed one of his arms to stop him.

"I'm not done with her, let me off-"

"Please, don't..."

Hibari froze when he saw me crying silently. I was not only in pain. For some reason, I wanted to cry out loud and my scalded hands did not help much. It was more painful when I grabbed his arm. He gave up chasing that woman and gently hold my wrist, leading me to another place.

"I'll take you to school and treat your hands. Just bear with the pain for a while."

I nodded as we both walking to Namimori middle school. Ten years passed and the structure of the school did not change at all. I could see some photos of new, unfamiliar students from the bulletin boards and there were some old articles, mentioning the former students' names and their achievements.

We reached the Disciplinary Office and it was one of the places that did not change after ten years.

He had been looking for the first aid kit and it appeared that the medicine and bandages were already used up. He clicked his tongue with annoyance and he told me to wait while he went to the school clinic to get another first aid kit.

I was alone in the room and I started to reminisce the memories of the present time.

Sometimes, I landed in this office for detention class. Or I was forced to write school report because that skylark wanted me to do so. I could not forget that Reborn once blasted the office with a stick of dynamite.

The most memorable of all was celebrating Hibari's birthday. I spent some money to buy a small cake and I waited in the office to give him a surprise. Senior Kusakabe did inform me that he might not be coming but once he saw my disappointed look, he purposely called the skylark through the phone to see me in the office.

He was busy but he still came over to celebrate his birthday with me. I could tell that he was secretly happy.

The Disciplinary Office from the future world was the same as the present time but I had that odd feeling when I was sitting in the place itself.

I never belonged in the future world. My true home was the present time, the place where I could be happy with my family, friends and the skylark himself.


	24. name

"Thanks to your healing ability, your scalded hands are not as serious as it should be."

Hibari was rubbing some ointment on my hands and I noticed that the injury was slowly healing on its own. The healing speed was slower than usual since I used up too much of my flames during the mission in the Millefiore's base. 

That was not the main issue for me. It was really surprising that my future self ended up engaged with Hibari's future self but someone was not happy about it.

Mizushima Risako, the girl who loved to keep herself updated about me and Hibari, turned out to be one of his childhood friends and she badly wanted to marry him when they grew older. Her future self took the perfect chance to tell the Millefiore soldiers to catch me so that she could get to stay with his future self. 

I asked myself. Did I steal someone's future husband from the beginning?

"[Name], why are you so quiet?"

I blinked in sudden and he had been staring at me after treating my hands. 

"N-nothing," I answered. "I'm just thinking."

"About what?"

I was reluctant to tell what was in my mind but his eyes were telling me that he wanted to know more. I let out a small sigh and a pained look appeared on my face.

"Do you know a student named Mizushima Risako?"

"Yeah, what about her?"

"Her mother claims that she wanted to marry you and it's been her wish since she was young. Did you and Mizushima Risako know each other?"

"Just, why are you asking this kind of question?"

"I don't know!" I snapped and I was clenching my fists with frustrated feelings. "I feel like I'm stealing someone's boyfriend!"

"...you're thinking too much, [Name]."

He placed back the ointment and medicine in the first aid kit before he proceeded to sit on the couch beside me.

"Mizushima Risako is one of my relatives' stepdaughter. Despite she is not related by blood, she was close to my other distant cousins. I never think of wanting to marry that student you are talking about."

"But she kept on saying that she wanted to-"

"Marry me? She's highly obsessive with the husband and wife game she used to play when she was young. Like my other cousins, she also mocked me for having no parents."

"Mocked you? Then why is she being so nice to you?"

"Who knows? Maybe after hearing that I might take over the family's clan, she decided to change. Still, I won't marry someone who disrespects my parents."

"I-I know that but what if your family members or your relatives want you to marry someone like Mizushima Risako?"

"No one can force me to marry someone."

"What if you are given a choice?"

He did not answer for a second. I did not have the time to react when he suddenly pinned me on the couch, gripping my wrists tightly. I froze with shock and I could not move away from him. He was staring intently at me before he started to talk.

"If there is a choice, I'd rather marry you, [Name]."

"M-me??" I stuttered. "I-is this some sort of a joke?"

"Does this look like a joke to you?"

He placed his lips onto mine without hesitation and my mind went blank for a moment. Just when I wanted to push him away, he leaned even closer to lock our lips firmly. I gave up trying to fight back and I eventually responding to his kiss.

It started to feel like a loving kiss and when we continued, it grew rather passionate. We lost the track of time until we had to break the kiss to get some air for ourselves.

"...s-sorry, Hibari-san...I've never thought you're...serious about it..."

"...you're being unfair, [Name]."

"Huh? Why is that so?"

"Shouldn't you start to address me with my first name?"

"Your first name??" I said wildly. "You don't allow anyone to address you with your first name-"

"Aside from my family members, I permit only a few people."

"We're supposed to return to the base, right?"

"Not until you say my name."

"A-at least I need to try to get used to it."

"If you say my name right now, I'll give you something as a reward."

"And what if I accidentally address you with your surname?"

His lips curved into a smirk, the exact one when we first met in the school.

"A punishment awaits you, [Name]~" he whispered near my ear and it made me more nervous. "Now, start calling my name."

"...Ky-" I blinked my eyes hard with embarrassment. "Crap, this is too awkward..."

"Look at me and say my name."

People would be yelling at me ("Just say out his name already!") because I made things difficult. I would like to challenge anyone to try saying out the crush's name in front of them. 

My eyes remained closed until I slowly opened them. I brace myself as I stared right into his eyes, keeping myself calm as I try to say out his name. Not too loud or not too quiet.

"...Kyoya."

It was strange that I did feel relaxed after I say his real name. Not only that, he smiled when I did it. Not an intimidating or scary smile (rumour said that if he ever smiled, things could get really bad). 

It was a rare smile that not anyone could get to see with their own eyes. 

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. It's just...I've been waiting for a long time to hear you saying out my name."

"For a long time?"

"Yes, for a long time."

We were still in the same position until we heard other voices outside the Disciplinary Office. Tsuna and others were in the school area and I would guess that they were heading to our classroom. Hibari and I quickly sit up and tried to act as nothing happened. 

"...maybe you should join your friends. They probably expect you to be here before them."

"I agree, but what about you?"

"I'll stay here. You know that I hate being in a crowd."

I grinned at him as I opened the office door to leave and join the others. I held out both of my hands and there were no signs of injuries because of my healing ability.

I did not have to make Tsuna and others worry about me.

* * *

"...after adding all the soup base ingredients, place the noodles in the bowl and mix it well. Once you're done with it, put the minced chicken and egg yolk on the noodles and finish it with green onion leaves as a topping."

I was preparing a simple dish while Kyoko and Haru watched with interest and amazement. They both once told me that they wanted to see more of my cooking since they knew I often cook for Hibari and his grandfather. 

"[Name], you're so talented!" Haru exclaimed. "You could have to open your restaurant after graduating from high school!"

"Not a chance," I laughed dryly. "I can't stand cooking for many ungrateful people."

"Why not? Your food is not that bad. Even Haru and I wanted to learn more from you," added Kyoko.

"Thanks, but I'm not planning to be a chef when I grow up. My mum taught me how to cook when I was young because she was afraid that I would starve while my parents work."

"Your parents love you so much, [Name]," Haru commented. "You look so close to them."

True enough. My adoptive parents loved me so much as they had always wanted to have their child. They were pretty surprised to see me at the airport and they thought of sending me to see the authorities until they saw my birth certificate.

Once they knew my real parents were dead, they decided to adopt and raised me.

"If it wasn't for them, I would be in prison with Mukuro..." I muttered.

"Huh??" the girls looked at me curiously and I smiled back to them.

"I mean, I would have stayed in the orphanage if it's not because of my adoptive parents."

"What happened to your real parents?" Kyoko asked.

"I don't know. I was way too young to remember their faces."

"But you remember Hibari so well when you were young."

I flinched and my face quickly went red. I knew Haru purposely teased me but she was right. I could remember him more than my real parents' face. I should have asked Mukuro about them when I met him again. 

"Speaking of Hibari, where is he anyway?" 

"You know him well, Kyoko. He's patrolling around the school and Namimori area in this era."

"You must be happy to see him, right?" Kyoko smiled brightly.

"Of course she's happy," Haru replied keenly. "Her red face is the most obvious answer."

I immediately remembered the day when Hibari and I kissed in the Disciplinary Office. The shyness had reached its limit as if I had a fever. I was not ready to tell Kyoko and Haru about it and I took some food to Chrome's room. 

The door was unlocked and I-Pin was sharing her food with Chrome. I was surprised for first and I was happy that I-Pin finally managed to make her eat some food. 

"I'm glad that you're eating but that gyoza is not enough for both of you," I spoke out, placing two bowls of noodles on the table. "I taught Kyoko and Haru some cooking skills, so I made more for everyone."

"Y-you don't need to trouble yourself, [Name]," Chrome said quickly.

"You need to eat more, Chrome. Or you won't have enough energy to fight in the Choice battle."

I waited while both of them were eating the noodles I gave them. I-Pin smiled with satisfaction, saying that my cooking was as good as the two girls. She volunteered to bring the bowls back in the kitchen and I was staying in Chrome's room. 

"You have a culture shock, right?"

"C-culture shock?" she asked with her puzzled look.

"Yeah. Kyoko and Haru treated you kindly and you have no idea how to say to them. So you decided to hide from them."

"I-I didn't mean to be so rude to them-"

"I understand. You were used to someone treated you badly and you did not know how to react when kind people came to you."

She went silent and she was unable to say out what was in her mind. 

"Mukuro is alive."

"Really? Did you see him?"

"From my dream. He managed to escape from Byakuran with someone's help. That's a real foolish move he made and I was glad to see him safe."

"...I'm glad," Chrome smiled sadly. "Irie Shouichi told me that he was not dead since his name was not in the Vendicare Prison's list. When you told me about his condition, I feel much better."

"He also wanted to apologise for risking your life. Could you forgive him?"

"I forgive him," she replied. "I would not blame him since it is also my chance to create my missing organs with my powers."

"Well, who was the one taught you how to do it?"

"...your boyfriend, of course."

My head would burst into pieces if there was a grenade in my brain. Chrome giggled as she saw my reaction and I covered my reddened face with my hands.

"Haru already teased me and now it's your turn..." I muttered shyly.

"I bet Mukuro would do the same to you."

We ended up talking to each other and I began to learn more about her life before she met Mukuro for the first time. Despite knowing her real name, I preferred to address her with her current name. Let Mukuro be the one of the few to say by her real name, Nagi. 

"[Name], are they having some sort of a party?"

"Oh, yeah. They are having a party to welcome senior Ryohei and Basil to the secret base. What about it?"

"If it's possible...can I help them washing the dishes?"

"Sure, but it's going to be late. How about we do it tomorrow?"

She agreed with me and soon fell asleep in her bed. I took the blanket to cover her and I smiled at her pet owl, gently touching its head.

"She's doing fine. You can go back to sleep, Mukuro."


	25. secret

I never thought of getting involved with the Choice battle and Reborn mentioned that it would be a waste as I was able to fight as good as Tsuna and others. With the older Dino's arrival in the Vongola's secret base, we were able to start with the training for the Choice battle. 

The training was meant for Tsuna and his guardians as they had received their new box weapons from Irie Shouichi and they needed to learn how to use it. Especially after Tsuna opened his box weapon in the wrong way, causing him to nearly got eaten by a monster. 

"Alright, [Name]. Since you have the Cloud Flames, would it be alright if I train you along with Hibari Kyoya?"

The boys flinched with shock and they were looking at me with worry.

"Are you sure this is the right idea to put her and him in the same group?" Gokudera asked curiously.

"Octopus-head is right. Hibari is not that easy to deal with," senior Ryohei added.

"I don't find it a problem at all since both of them are already-"

Reborn gave a harsh kick across his face to shut his mouth. He knew I was not ready to tell them about me and that skylark.

"No need for more details. Shall we continue with our plans?"

The older Dino soon arranging their training. Tsuna would be alone to learn how to open his box weapon correctly. Gokudera would be the one to teach senior Ryohei and Lambo to use their box weapon while Chrome would follow Bianchi and I-Pin to help to improve her illusion skills. 

Yamamoto was the only one who was not allowed to use his new box weapon until his unknown trainer arrive. 

"I wonder who will be the one to train you. I'm really curious," I spoke to him and I realised that we did not have a proper conversation.

"Me too. Tsuna and others can get to open their boxes but not me," he grinned. "Maybe I'll need to practice more with my sword skills."

"I'm nervous about the upcoming battle. Honestly, I don't feel like I want to participate."

"It's going to be fine, [Name]. You're pretty strong, you know. Even Dino decided to train you and Hibari together."

"Just because we have the same flames."

The meeting dismissed and the older Dino was waiting for me to follow him. I was looking around at the training area before I turned to look at him.

"Sorry, I'll catch up with you later. I need to do something here."

He was curious for first and he left the room. I stood for a few seconds as my eyes were looking at the wall.

"I know you're hiding there. Kyoko, Haru."

The girls had been hiding behind the walls like a ninja expert and I was the only one who noticed their presence during the meeting. They were not satisfied since the boys had been keeping lots of secrets from them and they wanted to know more about the mafia stuff.

"Why don't you go and ask Tsuna? You are the one wanted to know, right?"

"Ehh??" Haru gave her a disappointed look. "I thought you're going to tell us, [Name]."

"That's right. You know more than we do," Kyoko added.

"Yeah, I am but it's all up to Tsuna. He's the one to decide, not me. Even your brother refuses to tell you because, reasons."

"We wanted to help, that's why!"

"If they don't want to tell us, we might as well go on with the boycott!" 

"Boycott??"

"That's right. It's a boys and girls team. You should join us if you don't agree with them keeping secrets from girls."

Man, I hated this kind of boycott game. I did not know who to agree and the best thing I could do was to not taking any sides. Fair for both parties anyway.

"I'm not taking any sides, sorry," I replied. "I need to leave now before Hibari decides to bite me and Dino to death for making him waiting too long."

During the boycott, I had been staying at Hibari's secret base and I was wondering when it would end. 

* * *

_"Why are you always go against your father's words?"_

I was sitting on a grand looking couch and there was a woman in her fifties, wearing a heavy-looking dress that reminded me of Victorian-era clothes. Her face held a cross look and probably never smiled. I nearly thought she was my mother but logically, no one would ever dress like that in the modern world. 

_"Look at all your sisters. They are happy to marry Duke Anatole's sons but you refused to marry his oldest son. Your mind is always thinking of that man with unknown status. What is it so good about him?"_

I felt like I was frowning at that woman. I never had parents who will decide my marriage life.

_"So what if he's also from royalty? Where would your father hide his face when everyone knows that you are marrying a commoner?"_

I was yelling at her but I did not know what I was saying. Her expression changed a lot before she could say further. 

_"Duke Anatole's oldest son is the absolute gentleman I've seen and he was raised well. How could you say something disgusting about him??"_

Disgusting? Did I mention something that triggered her feelings?

_"Look, your father wants you to marry a man who resembles like a prince charming, not a man who wanders around to look for dead bodies. Do you understand that, young lady?"_

Seriously, why was she talking as if that man I liked was working in the morgue?

Someone was knocking the door and one of the servants went to open the door. An aristocrat with short bluish-green hair came in with a polite smile on his face. 

He looked a lot like Rokudo Mukuro all of a sudden. 

_"Ah, Daemon. Nice to meet you. What can I do for you?"_

_"Nice to meet you too, Duchess Bravard. I am here to see your youngest daughter."_

_"Is it an urgent business?"_

_"Probably, Elena wishes to see her and I am here to bring your daughter to her place."_

_"Oh, I see. Carry on then. If only my daughter loves her future husband just like you love Elena."_

The aristocrat simply smiled and once we left the mansion, he burst out laughing. That joy of laughter from someone who looked a lot like Mukuro.

_"I can tell that your mother is not talking about the man you love. What a pathetic joke she made..."_

I was still staring at him and I could not help it despite being a little rude to him. He placed his hand on my head and touched my hair softly. 

_"Elena do care about you. She purposely invited you for a tea party so that you could see him personally."_

I did follow him from behind and we were already at a large garden where I could see a beautiful long-haired woman standing with other people. Not all of them I knew but there was only one I could recognise.

That same man with silver-blond hair.

"Lambo is hungryyy..."

My dream ended in sudden when Lambo had been wailing from outside. I nearly forgot that the girls were still with their boycott, refusing to cook and do the cleaning for the boys. There was no way I would let a little boy go hungry for days especially when he had the training to do. 

"Hey, Lambo. Aren't you supposed to be sleeping?"

I was standing at my door's room and he paused, looking at me with his teary face.

"Lambo is hungry...I can't sleep without food..."

"You didn't take your dinner?"

"Lambo only eats instant noodles all day. Kyoko and Haru refused to cook for us..." he sniffed sadly. "Lambo is hungry..."

"...I'll make some food for you, okay?"

His eyes brightened with happiness and we went to the kitchen. There were some leftover rice balls that I made for Hibari, the older Dino and Romario during our training and it was the only food Lambo could eat. Once reheating, I took one and gave it to him.

"[Name], what are you doing??"

I blinked and Haru snatched the rice ball from Lambo's hand with Kyoko right behind her. 

"What am I doing? I'm giving the rice ball to Lambo because he's hungry."

"You're supposed to be at our side, not at Tsuna's side," Haru explained with her dissatisfied look. "We decided not to cook or doing any chores for the boys until they are telling us everything about mafia and Byakuran."

"I understand that frustration, but why Lambo had to be treated like that? He's just a little child."

"Well, he's with Tsuna, right?? He would not have to go through this misery if he wanted to stick with us."

"Lambo has to stay with Tsuna because he needs to learn something important."

"So you're taking Tsuna's side, aren't you?? Even Chrome who got involved a lot with mafia stuff had decided to stay with us. I thought you would join us but it seems that I was wrong about it."

The last sentence Haru spoke to me...brought back dark memories of my childhood when I was in the daycare centre.

The children were happy to play with me until they saw my wounds healing on its own. I was then labelled as a freak. 

"Haru, Kyoko...do you know why Tsuna refused to tell you about their mafia activities?"

The girls did not say anything and I could tell that they dared not to say anything to me. Because I was angry. 

"The reality is much darker than you thought. If you think it's unfair that the boys keep a lot of secrets from both of you, then I'll share my secret with you."

"Secret?" Kyoko spoke quietly. "What secret?"

"A secret of why the children labelled me as a freak," I took an empty glass from the table and I gripped it with my whole hand. "What will you think of me when I did this?"

Before the girls could stop me, I broke the glass with my hand and I could feel the stinging pain from my hand. Lambo froze with shock and the girls screamed with horror.

"W-what are you doing, [Name]?! You're trying to hurt yourself??" Haru yelled.

"Look closely. The wounds are healing on its own."

Deep cuts were every on my fingers and my palm and the blood would not stop bleeding. Soon after, the cuts were slowly closing, preventing the blood from flowing out. 

"[Name], you are..."

"When I was a little child, I was a test subject from a mafia family in Italy. This healing ability was the result of the experiment they had performed. I managed to escape from them and I found new parents. While I thought it was cool to have superpowers, the children stayed away from me, calling me a freak. I never tell anyone or trying to get hurt until I enrolled in Namimori middle school."

"Is that why you could walk around after...you got hurt every single time?"

I smiled sadly at Kyoko and Haru. I was well prepared for the name insult from them.

"I'm done telling my secret. Feel free to think of a nickname for me."

I left the kitchen and I kept on walking, without even thinking of returning to my room. I wanted to leave the secret base and find a place to hide. Under the bridge would be fine as long as I stayed away from anyone.

"Hey, [Name]! You can't just leave at this late night!"

The older Dino grabbed my arm quickly before I could leave. I yanked my arm as hard as I could but he refused to let go, gripping tighter. 

"Are you even listening-!" his eyes were looking at my bloodstained hand and he grew worried. "[Name], who hurt you?"

"N-no...I did it..." 

My throat hurts and I cried, letting my knees to fall on the base's ground. The older Dino knelt and placed both of his hands on my shoulder. All I did was to cry louder. Anything so that I could let out all my frustrations from my heart.

"[Name], if you want to cry, just do it. If that makes you feel better."

"Dino...please don't tell Kyoya. I beg you..."

"I won't tell. I promise."


	26. acceptance

"You break the glass with your hand??"

I gave a small grin at the older Dino and I knew he was about to nag a lot. Better than Hibari to find out about my bloody hand because I made a word to him that I would not try to hurt myself. I wiped off the blood with a wet towel I got from the bathroom and I need to remember to wash it before anyone else found it.

The older Dino and I were in a study room, which was located at Hibari's secret base. He shook his head and pinched my nose with his disapproved look.

"I made a word with you that I won't tell Kyoya or anyone for this. However, I am going to tell you not to hurt yourself like that ever again. Understand that, [Name]?"

"Understand. Sorry for making you worry..." I answered with a soft tone.

"It's fine. As long as you are safe," he replied. "Aren't you supposed to be sleeping at this late night?" 

"Lambo is crying because he's hungry. The girls are still with their boycott thing but I could not let that child go hungry all day long. I reheat some food for him but Haru refused to let him eat. So..."

"So, something happened between you and the girls?"

"I am not at anyone's side but they strongly believe that I would be at Tsuna's side, saying as if I'm betraying the girls. So, I tell them about my secret healing ability and the mafia stuff."

"Mafia stuff? You told them everything?"

"No, I'm talking about me being the test subject. They didn't know about it."

"I see. Did they say anything?"

"I have no idea. All I want is to hide at Kyoya's place."

"Like how long you want to hide from them?"

I shrugged my shoulders and I simply took a small piece of paper to fold the shape of a butterfly out of my boredom. He was watching me folding the paper with interest before he could ask me.

"[Name], are you aware that your box weapon takes the shape of a butterfly?"

"I am but that's my future self's box weapon. Even a simple living thing could be a box weapon."

"There's more than that," the older Dino smirked at me. "Ever heard the history of the Vongola Famiglia's first generation?"

"Not really, but I remember that Tsuna once told me that his ancestor was the one establishing the Vongola Famiglia."

"That's right. His ancestor built the Vongola Famiglia but it was not originally a mafia organisation. It was once a vigilante group that served to protect the people in Italy. What's interesting that the first generation and the current generation are pretty alike in terms of strength, determination and so on."

"Only the first and tenth generation? What about the other generations?" I asked curiously.

"Well, after Tsuna's ancestor resigned from his position, the new Vongola boss took over and things had changed since then. You'll know more if you read it from a mafia history book."

He stood up and he took an old book from the shelves, flipping some pages to show me something interesting. There was an old photo of the people and he told me that they were the first generation of the Vongola Famiglia.

"See that man with spiky blonde hair? That's Tsuna's ancestor. He was commonly known as the Vongola Primo."

"Really??" I blinked my eyes several times. "They look so alike, he could be Tsuna's twin brother to be exact."

"Similar, right? Look at the other guardians."

My eyes were scanning at the old photo and I was surprised that they had the same look like my friends. The moment I look at someone who was known as the first generation's Cloud Guardian, my face went pale for a second.

This man had been appearing in my dream many times. He had been a part of the Vongola for all this time?

"Hey, Dino. May I know what is the name of Primo's Cloud Guardian?"

"Oh, this one? I think his name is Alaude. The exact copy of Kyoya, both of them are the strongest guardian in the family."

"Strongest guardian in the family?"

"That's right. He was married to a woman whom he used to call her little papillon, means butterfly in French." 

As the older Dino had explained, the dreams were almost making a lot of sense. Those dreams were the fragments of memories but what could I do with it? Hibari's future self also knew about my strange dreams and all he told me that I would find out the truth someday.

"Is there anything wrong?"

"...nothing. Thanks for telling me about the Vongola Famiglia. "

I wanted to keep myself wide awake until my eyes started to feel tired. After all, I did not think that my brain could absorb more things. 

"You better sleep, [Name]. We still have the training to do in the next morning."

"Yeah, I really should. My head would burst if I didn't get enough sleep."

"And, [Name]. It would be best if you could make up with Kyoko and Haru. They don't mean to hurt your feelings."

"...I doubt if they would ever accept a freak like me as a friend. I'm already used to not getting more friends."

He was right. I need to make up with the girls. I was not able to concentrate during the training and I constantly got attacked by Hibari. Romario and the older Dino noticed my fight stances and they knew that I was not doing any good. I grew even more tired as my knees gave up, falling onto the ground. 

"If you can't fight, then don't bother to participate in the Choice battle."

"...I still can fight. Don't worry about me..."

"I dare you to say that again in your current state."

The tone of his voice sounded cold and I did not dare to look at his face. He never liked to fight with someone who was not serious in the battle. I probably had wasted a lot of his time and if I were him, I would have just look for the older Dino to fight with.

"...I'm sorry...I lose my concentration during the fight," I muttered. "And I didn't sleep well lately..."

"Didn't sleep well? Why is that so?"

I kept quiet, not replying to his question. I was looking at the bruises on my hands due to the fight while trying not to accidentally tell him that I hurt myself. He knelt and he held out his fingers to flick at my forehead.

That pain instantly made me snapped from my disturbing thoughts. 

"D-don't do that again, will you??"

"You asked for it," Hibari sighed. "At least you finally wake up."

"How does that help me to wake up??" I frowned and he only shot a playful smirk at me.

"You alone know that," he stood up and dusting off his shirt. "Now go and settle up your problem. Come back here again once you are ready to fight with me."

"Huh? My problem?"

He did not say anything further and he went on to fight against the older Dino without giving the other a chance to defend himself ("W-wait, Kyoya! Just let me-!"). I was looking at the secret base and I was still dreading to return at that place. 

* * *

After thinking for quite a long time, I went back to the secret base to see if Tsuna and others were doing well with their training. Kyoko and Haru recently had cancelled their boycott and they decided to continue cooking and doing the chores. Bianchi happened to see me and she fully explained that the girls already know the truth about mafia from Tsuna. 

"Are they...alright?" I asked with my uncertain look.

"They are fine for now. Honestly, I would say that Haru was more shocked than Kyoko."

"...I think I could imagine what she was thinking after knowing the real situation."

"Tsuna had decided to tell them the truth. Now that reminds me," she turned to look at me. "You told them about your past?"

"...I did."

"Why did you tell them?"

"...I don't know," I sat down on the chair near the dining table. "I never wanted to tell them...or anyone about my past."

"What are you afraid of?"

"...rejection."

"Rejection?"

I slowly nodded. It was the truth. I was afraid of rejection. My past was the one that ruined a part of my life.

"Ever since I was labelled as a freak when I was little, I stayed away from any children. They rejected me. I was fine all on my own until I entered Namimori Middle School. Tsuna, Kyoko and others wanted to be friends with me but I was reluctant. They were so kind to me. I was happy...and scared, at the same time."

"You still think they would reject you one day?"

"Almost...during the Ring Conflict. When Tsuna and others found out that I was from the Estraneo Famiglia. From their looks, I knew that my past will ruin my friendship. Not only them. I was afraid that Kyoya would reject me because I was related to Rokudo Mukuro. Even after they finally accepted me, I..."

Bianchi gently rubbed my back and that was when I cried again. For all this time, it was the fear that pulled me back from continuing walking on my path.

I just wanted to be friends with anyone without worrying anything. Is it wrong for me to do so?

"[Name]! You're here just in time!"

I roughly rubbed my eyes and I quickly turned to look at Haru and Kyoko. They were smiling brightly and Haru was carrying a bowl and it seemed like they were cooking something. 

"Kyoko and I already tried to cook that simple-looking noodles you've taught us earlier. We wanted to let you try first before we could cook more for everyone."

"Is...is that so?"

"Yes, come on, give it a try."

Bianchi simply smiled at me as if she wanted to tell me that the girls wanted to talk to me so badly. I nodded and I picked up the chopsticks to try their food. It was not that bad.

"...salty."

"Eh??" Kyoko and Haru's expressions looked like they received a negative remark from a teacher. I chuckled before I said further.

"The minced chicken is a little salty. Probably you've added too much salt."

"Ah, that's because..." Haru's face grew red and she was smiling nervously. "The salt's bottle cap was a little loose, so...guess I've added more than it shouldn't be."

We soon laughed together and it was such a happy moment even when Byakuran was about to take over the world. We could not wait to return home. 

"Kyoko, Haru...I'm sorry for giving both of you a shock. I...I probably should not have broken the glass in front of your eyes."

"Well...we wanted to apologise to you too, [Name]," Haru explained. "We're kinda acting selfishly without thinking. After Tsuna told us the whole truth, we never knew it was serious."

"But don't worry. We'll keep your special power a secret from everyone," Kyoko added. "Just one thing I want you to do us a favour."

"What is it?"

"Don't ever hurt yourself like that again."

"...okay, I'll keep that in mind."

They were worried I would do it again as the older Dino and Hibari had told me the same thing earlier. I felt much better after apologising to them. I also secretly thanked Bianchi for comforting me. The girls then brought me to the kitchen so that we could cook together with Chrome and finally had dinner with Tsuna and others. 

Byakuran had since announced that everyone who came from the past should participate in the Choice Battle or the Vongola would automatically be disqualified. 

Not all of us had proper weapons to fight. Why would he wanted us to participate in his tricky battle? 

We could only find out his purpose once we were ready for that dreadful Choice Battle. 


	27. choice

The Choice battle was full of surprises and it all came from the leader of the Millefiore Famiglia himself. We assembled at the Namimori shrine ten minutes before the afternoon and the one who still did not join us were Yamamoto and Hibari. Some of us thought that they failed during their training but Tsuna did not give up on them. Moments later, Byakuran appeared in the form of a hologram and he made Tsuna and others produce five million flame voltage to activate the Flame Ring Transportation System.

It was his crazy idea and he did not care. We would be disqualified if we did not follow what he said. The worst part, he destroyed a mountain from the northern part of Namimori.

When I thought we were doomed, the last two guardians finally appeared and everyone lit up their rings and box weapons. Spanner announced that they managed to produce more than ten million flame voltage, thus activating the transportation system.

Gokudera was quite angry to Yamamoto and Hibari for being late to the most important battle. He did once asking me why the skylark had yet to present at the shrine and I did not answer his question.

It was my fault for keeping my injury a secret from him. I knew he was not pleased since almost everyone knew except for him. I decided to leave him alone so that he could focus more on his training days before the Choice battle.

Short to say, we did not talk for a few days.

We soon arrived in a world where I could see nothing but large skyscrapers. It was Tsuna's battle arena choice and the next step was to choose the number of players. Not everyone could agree with the result and I heard the girls' scream from behind.

Daisy, Byakuran's Sun guardian slowly approaching them with a withered flower at his hand. I quickly stood in front of them and I glared at him for trying to scare Kyoko and Haru. Kikyo, Byakuran's Cloud guardian quickly dragged Daisy to his side and he apologised with that evil look from his eyes.

After settling with certain disagreement, we went to our spot where we could watch the battle between two teams while Tsuna and his team went to their secret base to do some preparation. The battle started and Tsuna was the first to fight against the Millefiore's Mist guardian named Torikabuto. It was an intense fight and Torikabuto's appearance was frightening. Even Lambo was shocked and he fell unconscious.

Honestly, I was frightened as well and I was not feeling comfortable. Why did I feel that way?

"Higher rank illusions are enough to affect people's mind and machines. This illusionist already combining his powers with his box weapon."

The older Squalo commented, also answering Basil's question as he admitted that Torikabuto's powers were not to be underestimated.

"[Name], are you alright?"

Kyoko noticed that I was not feeling right and she was worried. I smiled at her before answering.

"I'm fine, maybe I'm tired. Since we've been working so hard for the past few days just for this day."

"You've been helping a lot without getting a rest. I know you're feeling bad for lying to him but that does not mean you could push yourself too hard."

"...I'm sorry for worrying you, Kyoko."

"It's okay. Why don't you get some rest? I'll wake you up if anything happens."

Even if I wanted to see the battle, my head felt heavier than before. I went on to sit on the couch and trying to get some sleep.

* * *

It was the same strange dream.

I could not decide if the weather was cold or warm. I was inside the train with the same blonde-haired man and another man who was wearing a brown beret hat. The passengers on the train were anxious and worried as they talked about the influenza pandemic. The man with a beret hat asked with worry.

_"Chances of survival from the virus is low. What if we could not make it?"_

_"He will not give up that easily. He knew that we are coming to see him."_

I slowly looked up at the blonde-haired man and the pained look from his eyes could tell that he was worried. I had been wondering who was the one we were supposed to see until the train gave a sudden jerk movement.

The passengers started to get panicked and the blond-haired man felt something was not right. He ran towards the steam engine train followed by the other man with a beret hat. I was clueless but I ran with them as well to see what was happening.

The blonde opened the door harshly and the other's eyes widened with shock. Someone was controlling the engine but it was too dark for me to see who it was. The train operator was on the floor, motionless. 

The man with a beret hat was shouting at that unknown figure. His voice was shaking.

_"Y-you...you're supposed to be dead! What are you doing here?!"_

_"I want revenge,"_ the figure chuckled darkly. _"Mark my words. If I die, I will make sure that the three of you die as well. For ruining everything."_

The blonde took out his pistol and he aimed at the figure. He was glaring at him with anger. 

_"You will lose your fingers if you touch anything in this engine room."_

_"Oh? Do you want to shoot me? Do you think you can control the train's engine?"_

_"You heard Philippe. Why are you here when you are supposed to be sentenced to death for your unforgivable crime?"_

_"You did not know me that much, detective. I have followers. I have loyal friends to help me escape from my supposed punishment. Now, what should I do with the three of you?"_

_"It's fine if you want to deal with the three of us. Don't involve the passengers on this train."_

_"I'm afraid it's too late."_

The figure place something in the engine and the engine exploded in front of our eyes. The passengers screamed with fear and they were trying to jump out from the train. The figure was nowhere to be seen and the blonde turned to look at me and the other man.

_"Save the passengers. I'm going to try removing the train carriage away from the engine. Hurry!"_

The man quickly ran to save other passengers. I followed him and I heard another explosion from behind. The fire spread quickly and I could not see the blonde-haired man.

_"Wait! Where are you going?!"_

I left that man behind and I was desperate to look for the other. He was trapped while trying his best to remove the hook. I immediately helped him to pull the hook, ignoring the fire around us.

_"You idiot! You're not supposed to be here!"_

I simply smiled at him. I said something to him. Maybe I did not want him to die alone.

I expected a loud noise but all I heard someone calling out for my name to wake me up. 

"[Name]! Wake up!"

My eyes opened in sudden and Haru was looking at me with her excited look. Everyone was watching the battle and their looks showed that we were almost winning the battle. 

"What happened, Haru?"

"Tsuna wins against that scary guy and now it's Yamamoto's turn! He's pretty strong and his pets are really cute, you have to see it!"

Kyoko came to her side and she was smiling as well.

"[Name], are you feeling better now? We understand if you want to sleep a little longer."

I did not tell them about the dream. The recent dream I had given me an uneasy feeling and I did not want to continue sleeping to find out more. 

The train crash was sabotaged by someone who had a deep grudge against the Cloud Guardian of the Vongola Famiglia's first generation. The man with a beret hat mentioned that he was supposed to be dead. 

What did he mean by he was supposed to be dead?

Because of the train crash, they were not able to visit someone who was dying due to the influenza virus. What was happening in the past?

"N-no, I'm fine now," I shook my head. "I already missed Tsuna's battle, so I shouldn't do the same for Yamamoto and Gokudera. I want to watch them fight until the end."

We went back to others and I started to watch Yamamoto's fight against Genkishi. Compared to his previous battle with that mist swordsman, Yamamoto was more confident and he was able to catch up with any unseen attacks. I heard from Squalo that the reason he lost to Genkishi was that he could not choose what was most important to him.

Either his love for the baseball game or swordsmanship. If he had to defeat someone, he would have to pick one. I could figure out what was Yamamoto's answer during the training. 

Win and lose were a part of the game. Yamamoto successfully defeated Genkishi but that was not all. Byakuran's Cloud Guardian, Kikyo was ordered to eliminate Genkishi once he had no use for the Millefiore Famiglia. 

It was brutal. The mist swordsman was screaming in pain while demanding to speak with Byakuran. His horrifying face when he was dying-

I ran out of the room and I hid in the washroom. The girls were coming to me and they tried to reach out for me to see how I was doing. Genkishi's scream reminded me of the poor experimented children in the Estraneo Famiglia's laboratory. 

Traumatic events starting to come into my mind. I witnessed almost everything.

A boy was shot while trying to escape from the laboratory, some were drowned, some were in a fire, some of them were heavily injected with unknown substances. When one of them died in front of me, I cried with fear. 

"W-wait a second! This is a girl's washroom!"

I heard Haru's voice and the footsteps coming to a spot where I was hiding. The door was opened slowly and someone was placing their hands on my shoulders. 

"It's alright. I'm here, [Name]."

The scream soon faded from my head and all I heard was the skylark's voice. I was still crying and he went on to wipe my tears with his thumb. 

"I...I'm sorry...I'm way too weak for this-"

"If you want to cry, it's fine. Don't keep everything to yourself."

He embraced me and gently brushing my hair. I let him do so and I grew comfortable with his presence. 

"I...I thought you don't want to talk to me."

"You are the one who does not want to talk to me."

"How so? You're not pleased because I didn't tell you about my injury."

"I'm not pleased because you broke your promise to not hurting yourself ever again."

"Oh, yeah..." I lowered my head. "I did think of the promise but when I thought of how Haru talked to me back then, I-"

Hibari did not wait for me to finish my sentences and he flicked his finger at my forehead. Though it was not painful than he usually did. 

"You ran away when that mist swordsman was about to die. Are you alright?"

"N-not really. That face when he was dying...brings back the memory when I watched the children tortured and died in the Estraneo Famiglia's lab."

I sighed and placed my hand on my forehead. 

"Byakuran is not a monster. He is worse than a monster I ever see. I can't stand staying in this world any longer. I just want to...go home."

He did not say anything and he was still embracing me. He would not leave until I was calm and ready to go back with others. I did not want to make them worry about me. It was the Choice Battle they should worry about.

Despite the intense battle Tsuna and his teammate were facing, the Vongola already lost to Millefiore. 

Shoichi Irie was eliminated by Kikyo.


	28. paradox

Shoichi was seriously wounded and Ryohei did his best to heal him with his Sun Flame. He tried to get us to continue the game and mentioned that he would gladly die if it meant to defeat Byakuran.

All of us were completely confused. Why he pressured himself so badly just to defeat this madman?

Tsuna said that he could not see the point of defeating Byakuran and he only wanted to return to the past. Shoichi realised that he was too busy with the battle preparation that he forgot to tell us the whole truth.

When he met Lambo for the first time, he started receiving gifts and Lambo's special weapons from the Bovino Famiglia as thanks and apology. He had always been looking for the right time to return those gifts and items but he failed. As he was cleaning up his room, he accidentally dropped one of the special bazooka bullets and instantly sending him to the future world. He found out that his future self was an engineering student at the university and it was also the first time he met Byakuran.

He passed it as a normal encounter as he decided to change his future again because he had always wanted to be a musician. Though it was not a bright future as he wanted, he shockingly met the same white-haired guy who soon remembered seeing him before at the university. Frightened, he ran away from him before returning to his present world. 

He travelled to the future world again for the third time only to see that the world was in the ruins and Byakuran became a dictator of the world. No matter how many times Shoichi tried to change his future, the result was still the same. 

Byakuran was able to experience everything and he had the power to share all his knowledge and thoughts from his other selves across the multitude of parallel worlds thanks to the Mare Ring.

To make things right, Shoichi's future self erased his memory of time travel and left a note with some instructions on it (including shooting all of us from the present time with the Ten Year Bazooka). He grew up until the year he entered university where he met Byakuran and became friends with him. Once he regained all his memories, he discovered that he was in a timeline where Byakuran had yet to destroy.

It was also the same timeline where he met Tsuna for the first time and the existence of the Vongola Box Weapons. 

It had been planned from the beginning. Tsuna's future self had faith in his past self and his friends that they will be able to save the future.

We completely lost to the Millefiore. What else we could do to save the world?

The Millefiore family had arrived to collect their prize but the weakened Shoichi requested to have a rematch as he and Byakuran had promised years back. The Millefiore boss rejected his request and he mentioned that he did not make that kind of promise.

"The promise between Byakuran and Shoichi did exist."

A girl with bright blue eyes and blueish-green hair donned with a black outfit that matched her white cape and her large white mushroom hat walking towards us. She had the most radiant smile I had ever seen.

The mysterious girl's presence made the whole Millefiore Famiglia members uneasy, except for Shoichi. Despite being injured badly, he seemed to feel glad that she had finally come.

We were wondering who she was as if she was someone important. 

"It was you. You've grown up, Yuni," Reborn spoke out to the girl named Yuni.

"Yes, Uncle Reborn," Yuni smiled at the tutor infant. 

"She's an acquaintance of Reborn!" Tsuna added with his shocked look. "Speaking of which uncle-"

"You're too noisy," Reborn snapped Tsuna's finger and he yelped with pain.

"Oww! W-who is she anyway??"

"The granddaughter of an acquaintance of mine."

Byakuran hid his uneasy look and acted as if Yuni had recovered from her illness. Shoichi disagreed and explained that he had been taking control of the Giglio Nero Famiglia (thus, giving them a group name Black Spell) by removing Yuni's speech and controlling her like his doll for all this time. However, thanks to Byakuran, Yuni's soul was able to travel a parallel world as he did. 

Yuni would allow the rematch of the Choice Battle to happen but Byakuran refused to do so. He said that she had no right to make any decision because she was just a second boss of a Millefiore Famiglia. She soon decided to withdraw herself from the Millefiore Famiglia and then turned to look at Tsuna.

"Sawada Tsunayoshi-san. I have a request."

"A-A request??"

"Please protect me."

"P-Protect? But...aren't you the boss of the Black Spells??"

"It isn't just me..." Yuni placed her hand inside her pocket and taking out her handful of pacifiers that were belonged to the deceased Arcobalenos. "These...along with the pacifiers of my comrades."

When the pacifiers were glowing at Yuni's hands, Byakuran seemed to have changed and badly wanted to take her with him. Kyoko exclaimed with worry, telling Tsuna to immediately protect her. I was worried as well, it did not look good if he touched her. We heard a gunshot, a bullet that almost hit the Millefiore's boss' hand. Reborn was holding a gun and gave a deadly glare at him.

"Don't get too cocky, Byakuran. Whoever you are and whatever situation you're in. If you try to do anything to the boss of the Arcobalenos, I won't just stand and watch."

I rarely saw how serious Reborn was. He did stop Byakuran but the situation was not over yet. The Millefiore boss kept on negotiating with Yuni to return to his side with the promise that he would return the Vongola rings to Tsuna's team. She refused and she knew why he wanted her so badly. While at the point of being threatened to have her family members killed, she still would not go to him. 

Tsuna finally did not hesitate longer and he took her arm. He decided to protect her. 

Kikyo and Zakuro had started to attack us. Squalo and Gokudera made their move and we quickly ran to our base. I thought of staying behind to stop the Millefiore but the skylark grabbed my arm tightly with his disapproved look.

"Don't go near."

"I wanted to stop them too-"

"You won't stand a chance. Didn't you see how terrifying their powers are?"

"What about you?"

"I'll deal with them. Use your strength to protect others."

I looked at him for a second and sighed. I turned around and I spoke out a little loudly so that he could hear what I was going to say.

"You'd better be safe. Or else, no dinner for tonight."

I thought I heard him chuckle before he answered back.

"I'll eventually force you to cook."

I smiled a little and I ran towards my friends who were now reaching the secret base. We almost had no idea where to escape when we remembered about the large metal transportation. We felt relieved and all we need to do was to set our flames directly to that thing. Moments later, Squalo, Gokudera and Hibari had returned to us and we were ready to leave for good.

And we suddenly saw Byakuran fly to us at a high speed.

Without waiting, I quickly took out my box weapon and had my Cloud butterfly to block Byakuran's way. My animal box weapon expanded its wings in a larger size to create a shield but that did not stop him.

He eventually blasted it in pieces and breaking my box weapon as well.

My eyes widened with shock. The Cloud butterfly was killed right in front of my eyes. 

Tsuna and others were calling out for me but I could not move. Byakuran gave an evil smile and was about to do the same at me.

"Don't you dare to hurt my sister like that ever again."

I blinked and I saw a certain tall male blocking Byakuran's way with his trident. That aura, that familiar appearance. I could not believe I would see him.

"Your sister? You surely loved her so much," the white-haired sneered.

Chrome came to my side and dragged me to Tsuna and others. The older Rokudo Mukuro cast his strongest illusion powers to hold Byakuran and this gave us some time to escape back to Namimori town. Tsuna, Chrome and I were worried about his situation but given that he could stop the white-haired boss, the brunette trusted him once again.

"Mukuro! Can we meet again?!" Tsuna asked.

"Of course. I wouldn't want someone else to take over the world," the illusionist lightly laughed before his eyes turned into a serious look. "Listen, Sawada Tsunayoshi. You must not hand over the Sky Arcobaleno Yuni to Byakuran."

"Shut up," Byakuran growled and he stabbed through the older Mukuro's body with his hand, weakened him. 

He gave me the last look, he was smiling at me.

"Please be safe, [Name]. We will meet again."

His bi-coloured eyes lifted and looking at Hibari as if prompting him to take me somewhere safe. The skylark did not respond but he came over and brought me inside the base before we successfully transported back to Namimori.

* * *

Everything happened so fast and the secret base safely landed at the Namimori shrine. It felt like a sudden earthquake and all of us sighed with relief. Shoichi immediately told Tsuna to destroy the transportation system device to prevent the Millefiore from coming. 

As they were busy, I was sitting at the corner while in deep thought. I took out the damaged box weapon of mine and smiled sadly. I did not care anyone said that it was just a box weapon. Losing a pet felt like losing someone close to me. 

I wanted everything to end it fast so that we could return home safely. What if we died at his hands?

Hibari noticed my sad reaction while looking at my damaged box weapon. He ruffled my hair and pecked my forehead before he started to say something.

"I'm sorry about what happened to your box weapon. I might have guessed that it was giving its last best effort to protect us."

"You...think so?"

"If it is not because of your pet, that freak would have taken that girl before Rokudo Mukuro could stop him in time. Don't forget, you still have me at your side."

I smiled and I felt much better after hearing his words. 

"I'm going back to school for a while. I want you to stay close to your friends safely. The enemies are back again."

"Those Funeral Wreaths?"

"Yes. I don't want you to endanger yourself if you follow me. Just stick with them, and I'll be back."

I nodded and he later left the base in a hurry. He knew that I would follow him and had to make sure that I would stay with Tsuna and others. 

We soon returned to the Vongola secret base and get ourselves changed while resting. It had been tough and tiring after that Choice Battle. Giannini confidently said that our secret base was well hidden and it would be impossible for any enemy to break in. It was normal for us to feel relieved and we return to our rooms. 

Moments later, Yuni approached me with her guilt look.

"You are [Name], right?"

"Yes, I am. Is there anything I can help you, Yuni-san?"

"I just want to say, I'm sorry. For all the troubles all of you got into...and your box weapon-"

"N-no, it's not your fault!" I flustered. "I mean, I am sad about my pet's 'death', but at least this allows me to buy some time for Mukuro to come and stop Byakuran in time, right?"

"You're not mad at me?" 

"Why would I? It was Byakuran I should mad at. Don't you see how he had used you to control your subordinates? And how many people he had killed? If Reborn could protect you, then we will do the same."

Yuni smiled and her blue eyes were shining clearly, she looked like she was going to cry. 

"Thank you so much, all of you."

I had the urge of wanting to hug her. Hugging her because she was cute and comforting her for all the things she had gone through. I felt like wanted to tell her that everything was going to be fine. 

She was looking at me for a while before she quietly giggled. I blinked curiously as I asked her.

"Why are you laughing, Yuni-san? Is there something on my face?"

"Oh, there is. Your face will turn red soon after I tell you something."

"What is it?"

"You and Hibari Kyoya. Both of you will be happy together."

"W-what?" my face grew redder as she expected. "How did you know that we-?"

Before she could answer, the emergency siren rang the whole base and the explosions occurred as well. Our eyes widened with shock and we left the room with a hurry. Tsuna and others came out as well with their tensed and worried look. We were asking each other the same question and when Squalo came to us and demanding for answers, the fiery explosion bombed behind the Varia Rain guardian.

The Millefiore's Storm guardian, Zakuro had arrived to claim our lives.


	29. escape

Yuni had her uneasy look the moment that magma freak appeared. I was wondering how he managed to find and break into the secret base until Zakuro took out something from his pocket It seemed that he had successfully tracked us down with his radar. Squalo stepped in to fight off the magma freak instead of letting either Gokudera or Yamamoto fight and telling us to leave the base as soon as possible.

"G-get out? Do you mean to fight alone?!" Tsuna exclaimed wildly.

"Are you too thick to get it through your heads?! You're already under attack!!" Squalo roared with fury while encountering Zakuro's invisible Storm Flames with his Rain Flames' shield. 

"If it weren't for Squalo, we'd all be ash for now. Nothing beats the Varia quality," Reborn commented. 

"I'll stay and fight too, Squalo!" Yamamoto joined only to get yelled by Squalo.

"The f*ck you will! You just don't get me, do you?? It's about time for me to kick up my storm, cleanly and quietly, my way!!"

I flinched when Squalo yelled with his extremely loud voice. He never changed after ten years and it was probably his way to express his frustrations. 

Yamamoto understood and joined with us, taking our time to quickly escape from the burning base. We kept on running until we reached out from the base. 

It was terrifying, we would never expect for the Millefiore to come so quickly. Fortunately, Lal Mirch, Reborn and Yuni were able to stand outside the base without feeling any pain. Their pacifiers were protected with new Trinisette cover thanks to Giannini. 

We were figuring out a new place to hide and Tsuna was suggesting that we should go to his house. However, Shoichi said that our houses, Kokuyo Land and other familiar places had been listed by the Millefiore and we should not go any of it. Gokudera was thinking of Nakayama Hospital, the place where they used to stay during the Ring Conflict battle but the bespectacled genius said that it had been demolished two years ago and had turned into a parking lot. 

Haru finally suggested that we could hide at the realtor's house, a place that she used to hide whenever she wanted to run away from home. We agreed and we were about to split up for safety purposes when the whole Vongola base blown up from the grounds. 

_"This will end quicker than I thought. Take Yuni and run. Get as far away as you can."_

Tsuna tensed up while he heard Squalo's voice from his headphone. He must have been defeated. Yamamoto quickly stood up and was about to head back to that base. I immediately grabbed his arm before I spoke to him.

"Wait, Yamamoto! What are you going to do?!"

"I'm going back to him, of course!"

"You can't!!"

The Rain guardian froze at my words. I stared at him with worry and I was still holding his arm tightly to prevent him from going to the base.

"Don't be an idiot! Squalo gave us a lot of time to escape and you wanted to waste his efforts of fighting against that magma-freak?? He's going to be fine and I want you, and everyone else to be safe!"

"[Name]..."

"Haru! Where's the realtor's house?!" Tsuna asked with hurry.

"On the fifth avenue, it's very close! Just past the shopping street!" Haru answered and the older Bianchi carefully not to let Lal Mirch fell on the ground.

"There's no time to lose! Let's go!!"

Just ignoring everything. We did not want Zakuro to find us and caught Yuni. We kept on running as fast as we could. Tsuna saw something flew out from the burning base but we were lucky that we could reach at the town before he could catch up with us. We stopped by at the retro-looking shop and I looked at the signboard with the name Kawahira Realtor on it.

Haru called out for someone in the shop only to found that the door was locked. Was it possible that the person she mentioned had run away to hide?

The door suddenly opened and Haru fell onto the ground. There stood a strange-looking man holding a bowl of ramen. He looked like he cared about his food more than helping Haru from falling on the ground.

"Sorry to break it to you, but the grandmother you're looking for had kicked the bucket three years ago."

"What??" the brunette exclaimed with shock.

"Oh, but...she was all smiles when she kicked the bucket, so no need for sympathy."

"Our last saviour had died??" 

"Whatever shall we do??" Haru cried with disappointment. 

"What are you standing around for, you lot?" the man stared at us. "You're being chased, are you?"

"H-how do you know??" Tsuna asked curiously and the man sighed before he replied.

"There now. I'll take care of the real six Funeral Wreaths for you. Now hurry up."

A normal man who knew about the real six Funeral Wreaths? Who was this man?

The man who told us to hide addressed himself as Kawahira and he happened to be a regular customer from a ramen shop where I-Pin's future self worked. Since he knew about the real six Funeral Wreaths, Zakuro and the Millefiore, we wanted to know more about him. 

Reborn suggested that we should hide instead of standing around. Kawahira stood outside and he was working on something until Zakuro approached to him in sudden. Their conversation sounded bad when Zakuro threatened to burn down his shop if he did not tell him about us. A few minutes later, Kawahira came to us and telling that he was already gone to another place. 

"The real six Funeral Wreaths have gone. I think you'll be safe for now."

All of us sighed with relief. Tsuna took his chance to ask him about the Millefiore when Kawahira told us if we knew a student who ran straight to the Namimori Middle school.

How could I forget about Hibari? All because of Zakuro, I forgot about his condition.

"Tsuna, could you please contact Dino?" I asked tensely.

"Ah, yes. I'm trying to call out for him. Hope both of them and others are safe," Tsuna adjusting his headphones and he managed to speak with the older Dino.

The Cavallone boss was busy fighting off with Daisy, the one whom Yamamoto had tried to eliminate him during the Choice Battle. We heard that Daisy had transformed into some sort like a lizard man all with the help of his special box weapon given by Byakuran. Despite the older Dino's strongest attacks, Daisy was able to see through and had defeated him. 

Just like how Zakuro had defeated Squalo. Why were these monsters ever exist?

_"You'd better stop creating havoc in Namimori Middle school."_

Tsuna and I heard Hibari's voice through his headphone. He must be nearby the older Dino's place before the Cavallone boss being kicked and rejoined with the older Kusakabe and Romario. The older Dino told us that he was currently fighting with Daisy and we have to wait for a longer time for good news. 

I sat down for a moment and praying hard that he would be safe. He said that he would return safely. The older Bianchi noticed my worried look as she sat beside me and held my shoulders. I looked up at her and she smiled at me. 

The poison cooking assassin who tried to kill Tsuna to bring Reborn home and always caused Gokudera to have a terrible stomachache, she was one of the most considerate people I had met.

"Everyone, listen up!" Tsuna called out for us. "Dino announced that Hibari-san had finally defeated Daisy, one of the real six Funeral Wreaths!"

We cheered loudly. If one of them had been defeated, we would be able to proceed further and Yuni would be safer for temporary. 

Meanwhile, Kawahira had said that he will be going for a trip and we could use his house to hide longer. Reborn demanded to know further about his identity but he mentioned that he was nothing but the son of the realtor. I sensed that Reborn had such dislike towards Kawahira.

After some time, Yamamoto, Giannini, Spanner and Bianchi wanted to return to the Vongola's secret base and they had their reasons. I knew why Yamamoto wanted to return to the base. He wanted to see Squalo even after what had happened.

"Are you sure about this?" I asked him quietly.

"Why are you asking that, [Name]?" the baseball enthusiast asked with his puzzled look.

"I know how you feel after you heard about...well, your father's death in this era. But, are you sure you wanted to see Squalo?"

He placed his hands on my shoulders and he gave his best optimistic smile to me. The same smile he gave when we first became friends in the class.

"Thank you so much for your concern, [Name]. I appreciated it, you know. I'm sure that he's going to be fine, but I want to check on him."

"You're going to be fine, right?"

Without waiting, Yamamoto went closer to my head and he pecked my forehead. My eyes widened with shock. Why on earth he did that? 

"Sorry for surprising you," he chuckled a little. "I'm not good at it, but that's what the people do to comfort the other."

"...yeah," I smiled nervously. 

As they left the realtor's house cautiously, Lambo suddenly making a lot of noise. I thought he was supposed to be sleeping. He continued to play around and some of us kept demanding him to keep quiet. 

When Lambo kept on bugging Yuni to play with him, I felt strangely wrong. He usually would play with I-Pin, Kyoko, Haru or Chrome.

No, that was not Lambo.

I was about to drag Yuni away but it was too late. The fake Lambo revealed his true identity and he turned out to be Torikabuto, one of the Millefiore's real six Funeral Wreaths. He pushed me away from Yuni and I went on flying, crashing through the walls. I gasped in pain and collapsed on the ground. Kyoko, Haru and Chrome came to me and the others tried to block Torikabuto's way to save Yuni. 

My head felt so dizzy and a thick fluid flowed down from my head. It was my blood. It was chaotic outside and I heard some crashing noises. The girls screamed and some part of the realtor's house was crashed because of Bluebell's attacks. I tried my best to look up to see what happened, resisting the pain I had.

"Eww!! That's so gross!!"

I blinked after hearing Haru's sudden scream. Torikabuto had just transformed into a hideous giant moth.

By looking at it was terrifying enough. Torikabuto's illusion powers were so powerful that I suffered a bad headache.

I passed out, feeling guilty for not being to help them saving Yuni.

* * *

_"I can't believe that I would see you again!"_

A woman with dark brown hair was smiling to me and she looked like she was done harvesting some vegetables. I looked around and I found out that I was in a village. 

_"Ah, I'm sorry if you have to see me like this. I mean, I feel happier to stay here compared to the mansion."_

Mansion? Was she once from a royal family? Her face looked familiar for some reason. 

_"Fabien is off to his work. He will return in the evening. How are you and your beloved husband? I heard that both of you have a son."_

She must be referring to the First Cloud and his child I had seen from my previous dream. She gave a guilty look at me before she continued to talk.

_"I truly apologise for treating you badly back then. I am indeed afraid of our parents and Claudine, so...I hope that you could forgive me."_

She placed the large basket on the ground and turned to look at me brightly.

_"You know what? I heard from Christine that Claudine is married to another duke and she's not happy. The duke's sisters treated her like a maid and they even give her their old dresses for her to wear for any important functions. Well, they don't want to waste their money to buy newer ones for her. I guess this must be a punishment for burning your violet dress, remember?"_

I guess she meant that woman reaped what she sowed. I would be angry if she burnt my things.

_"Maybe one day, I would love to see your son. Christine told me that he is like his father and has the same eyes like yours. He's adorable."_

I felt like I asked her a question that made her sigh with disappointment.

_"Sadly, Fabien and I can't have a child. It does not matter now. As long as we are happy, that should be enough."_

We talked quite long when a man came to her with a smile on his face. He greeted me in a friendlier way though I could see that guilt look from his eyes. The woman bid farewell to me as she and her husband returned to their cottage. 

I wonder if I could have a happy marriage like both of them or the First Cloud with his supposed wife.

No, this was way too early to think about it.


	30. ability

I could feel a cold breeze and I assumed that we were in a safer place. I heard some unknown voices apart from Tsuna and others as I tried to wake up to see where I was. Chrome was sitting beside me and she looked like she was about to cry. Tsuna and others came to me as soon they saw me waking up.

"F-forgive me, [Name]..." she spoke out with sadness. "If I knew this would happen, I would have helped. I cannot face Mukuro-sama if there's anything bad happen to you."

I weakly smiled at her, gently touching her hair before I replied. 

"There now, Chrome. I'm still alive here, so don't worry."

"You're suffering from heavy injuries, did you?"

A young man with pink long hair asked with curiosity. Others who were with him were also wondering the same thing as they were looking at me. 

"How you could recover so fast while others can't?" 

"When she was injured or suffering from blood loss, the blood clotting process will do its job. In [Name]'s case, her blood can clot at a fast speed," Reborn explained.

"But blood clotting would take a lot of time to recover someone's injury!" Tsuna replied in his hushed tone.

"Think about it, Dame-Tsuna. Hibari Kyoya's handcuff could multiply itself at a high speed because of his Cloud flames, surpassing the Sun Flames that could regenerate cells in its average speed. That is how he defeated Daisy."

A dark-skinned man who sat beside the young man spoke out after hearing Reborn's explanation. 

"You're saying that her blood can clot at a high speed because of the Cloud Flame?"

"Unbelievable." 

Another deep voice was heard and it was Gamma who spoke out. 

"I've never heard of that such ability. I must admire that she would have been able to do that."

"I doubt that," I said in sudden. "I think it's a monstrous ability of mine."

"But why? Isn't it supposed to be a good one??" the young man asked.

"I have this ability thanks to the Estraneo Famiglia's experiments. They had done something with my blood cells and my life had never been the same ever since."

"Never been the same?" added Tsuna.

"There was once I almost died in an accident after a trip with my parents. I suffered blood loss and my parents desperately wanted to save my life. The doctors tried their best but my blood did not match with any types of blood they had. I told myself to keep on living no matter what happened and the blood inside my body automatically multiplied itself at a high speed."

"How did you know that the Cloud Flame helped you to recover fast?"

"Kyoya's future self told me when I was learning how to ignite my Cloud Flames."

All of us were into silence after I told who I was. Tsuna and others had accepted me but what about other people that I hardly knew?

"Don't look so down, woman," said Gokudera bluntly.

"Huh?"

"You can't give up just because you're as freaky as Rokudo Mukuro."

"Gokudera..."

"Keep on living! We will be in this together so that we can return to the past and enjoy watching the fireworks together! Got that??"

"Octopus-head is right to the extreme!!" Ryohei yelled excitedly. "We'll defeat those monsters in no time!!"

"Big brother is right. We should never give up. There are many things we want to do after this final fight," Kyoko added with her determined look.

Tsuna seemed happy to hear positive answers from his friends before he turned to look at me. 

"[Name], do you remember what I said to you when you were in the hospital during the Ring Conflict?"

"...that I am your friend and will always be?"

"Exactly. You are my friend and will always be."

"Even after you've become Vongola Decimo."

"Hey, I didn't say that."

"I remember so well, Tsuna. I should have recorded it and let Reborn hear your declaration."

We laughed for a while and I admitted that it was only the time we could lighten our heads before we proceed to make a plan for the final battle. 

Tsuna once rejected the idea of me joining the battle and I insisted to join them even after losing my animal box weapon. I told him that I would fight off the weaker enemy with my steel staff and taking care of Lambo while the others fight with the stronger enemies. 

I did not want to waste Hibari's future self's effort in teaching me how to fight. 

* * *

The next day was the day to determine the fate of our world.

All of us were busy fighting off with these monstrous enemies and we had tried our best. Gokudera, Lambo and Ryohei had unleashed the power of their Vongola box weapon and I had to admit that it was really impressive. 

Lambo was exhausted after using up all his energy and Ryohei brought him to my arms so that I could take care of him. I reached a safer spot to hide and I look above the sky where Ryohei was struggling to defeat Kikyo. The Millefiore's Cloud guardian noticed someone's presence from below and Hibari stepped out to let him know that he had arrived.

Without any warning, something came out from the ground and it ripped Hibari's left arm. 

Along with his precious armband...and I saw lots of blood...

My face was as white as a paper when I watched that scene. I was about to scream until a hand behind me covered my eyes. I was still carrying Lambo at my arms and I heard a voice near my ear.

"Don't worry, [Name]. It's just an illusion."

"K-Kyoya? You're still...alive??"

"Of course I am, you fool. We better stop talking until everything is ready."

I was confused but I listened to his words and I let him continue covering my eyes. Although everything was an illusion, it felt so real that I almost cried. 

Because Ryohei's voice of despair sounded like he had lost his best friend. Everyone else's voices were so uncomfortable to hear. Screams and cries...

Soon after, the skylark removed his hand from my eyes and I immediately turned around. The Varia team, the Vongola team and even the Kokuyo Gang were completely safe. They had been waiting for Fran and the older Mukuro to create their real illusions to attack all the three real six Funeral Wreaths at the same time. 

The older Belphegor was on the verge of wanting to kill off Fran for making their deaths look realistic. Meanwhile, the older illusionist came to me with his relieved look.

"I'm glad you're safe, [Name]. We took quite a lot of time to make sure everything is under control. Just enough to injure those Funeral Wreaths."

"...yeah," I replied bluntly.

"What's with that look? Did someone make you cry?" the older Mukuro tilted his head.

"Well, you did make me cry, big brother."

"Me?"

"Everyone's death looked so real that I wanted to cry in despair. Why would you have to make them died especially Kyoya??"

The older illusionist looked a little nervous. Fran suddenly appeared behind him with his impassive expression.

"Master says that it is the best way to give a natural expression when someone you love died in front of you. That would make the enemies feel more confident, to think that they finally killed all of us."

"Shut up, you bloody frog!" the older Mukuro snapped and stabbed Fran's head with his trident. I glared at him while watching him punishing his student.

"I don't like the way what he did to me but it's for the best," Hibari smirked at me. "At least you've shown how you deeply cared about me."

I shot my 'what-do-you-mean' look at him for a moment before I decided to forgive the older illusionist. 

We continued to fight the Funeral Wreaths and we were almost winning until the spark of green lightning came out from nowhere. 

There was a giant, almost invisible man walking in the middle of the forest. Not only us were feeling uneasy about that thing's appearance. Kikyo, Zakuro and Bluebell were giving the same uneasy look as well.

The arrival of a certain giant man named Ghost turned out to be Byakuran's Guardian of Lightning. He was not a mere illusion but a solid ghost. Our attacks did not work against him because those attacks just went through his almost transparent body.

Even with Ryohei, Gokudera and Basil's combined powers of their animal box weapons.

The Ghost started to absorb all the flames around him. He even absorbed the flames from Bluebell and Zakuro and both of them died in a gruesome way. Their deaths were probably worse than Genkishi's death.

We slowly losing our strength and stamina because the flames from our rings and box weapons were being absorbed as well. We had no choice but to stop emitting our flames. I started to grow weaker as well and I collapsed onto the ground. Hibari quickly brought me to another hiding spot where the Ghost's flame absorption did not hit on us. He began to worry about my condition and bring me closer to him.

"[Name]? Are you alright?"

"I-I feel tired..."

"Stay close to me, you're going to be fine."

I weakly smiled and I slumped onto his chest. I was still worried about others and we were desperate to find a way to defeat the Ghost. Lambo looked up at me and he was about to cry when he saw my weakened state. My hand reached out for him and touched his thick hair.

"Don't cry, Lambo. I'm fine here. We're going home soon enough."

"H-how long we are going to stay here? Lambo-san wanna go home and see mama and play with all of you..." Lambo's voice was quite strained. He might have been crying a lot when he fought off those Kikyo's dinosaur minions.

He missed Tsuna's mother so much.

I missed those days when I was always being punished by Hibari for my clumsiness and defying his orders. Everyone in the present world was waiting for us to return home.

"Don't worry, Lambo. We'll play together as you've always wanted. Just hang on a bit, alright?"

Lambo nodded and stay closer to my side while I looked up at the skylark who was still watching the Ghost's location. Yamamoto, the older Dino and Squalo had joined us but there were in a bad shape as well. 

I heard Gokudera's voice as well, questioning Kikyo of why the Ghost would attack his ally. He could not answer his question as he was completely confused. 

What the hell Byakuran was thinking? The Ghost was walking towards Yuni's place and that was our main worry. There was nothing we could stop him. 

"I won't let that happen!!"

All of us flinched at the loud voice. Tsuna was flying towards the Ghost and was on his stance. The Zero Point Breakthrough Revised edition, the ability to absorb flames and converted into his flame. Kikyo was shocked when he saw both Tsuna and the Ghost absorbing each others' flames.

Tsuna's Sky Flames were almost draining and I looked up with worry. Seeing how Bluebell and Zakuro died, I did not want him to be the next victim.

After lots of efforts, Tsuna managed to absorb all the flames including the Ghost. The crisis was over and his guardians were about to get closer to him. I noticed the tense look at his face before he told them to stay away from him. 

Some were confused and some seemed to know what Tsuna was thinking.

Where were all the flames he had absorbed had gone to?

"Impressive indeed~! You've defeated Ghost so easily~!"

Byakuran had made his appearance above the sky after sending his guardians away to fight against us. 

I had enough with that sickening smile he had on his face. 


	31. sacrifice

"I'm honoured to be in the presence of so many notable faces."

Byakuran's eyes moved to each of us and his lips curved into a devilish smile.

"The boss of Cavallone Famiglia, Vongola's Independent Assassination Group, Mukuro and his fellow followers, the guardians of Vongola and lastly, Vongola's Tenth boss."

His eyes soon fixed at Tsuna with his curious look.

"You are a curious person. To be able to coerce Xanxus and Mukuro to submit to you, who once had tried to kill you. That couldn't have been an easy feat."

This angered Xanxus and Mukuro as both of them launched their deadly attack towards Byakuran. They were surely feeling offended about losing to Tsuna.

Those attacks did not work on Byakuran and Tsuna announced that this will be his fight.

Only him and Byakuran. We had no choice but to stand and watch them fight.

Tsuna was really quick and we thought that he could punch that marshmallow freak easily. None of them worked and Byakuran held Tsuna's fist, only with his finger.

And seconds later, he flicked his finger and slammed Tsuna straight to the earth.

"You don't mean to say this is as much as you can handle, do you~? I still haven't even used a tenth of the flames that Ghost had absorbed~!"

Byakuran spread out a large pair of wings behind his back and we realised that he was the one who had been absorbing all the flames instead of Tsuna.

Ghost was his parallel self. That explained the whole logic of his godlike powers.

Tsuna tried to defeat Byakuran even with his strongest powers but he was no match for him. He was getting worn out and Byakuran caught him at his neck.

I was still tired but I could see that Byakuran was telling (or more like, forcing) Tsuna to produce more Sky Flames. He did the same as well until we heard a strange ringing sound. 

Both Vongola and Mare rings were calling out for something and we saw Yuni came over to them. She did not come on her own. Her Sky Pacifier brought her to them and she was trapped with Tsuna and Byakuran. 

I could not hear clearly and I had to depend on Reborn's explanation as he could read the situation well. 

Yuni had been trying her best to resurrect all the dead Arcobalenos so that they could help Tsuna to defeat Byakuran. It was the reason why she wanted Tsuna to protect her from the beginning. 

With the sly smirk on Byakuran's lips, he had snapped Tsuna's neck, leaving him collapsed and motionless on the ground.

Please don't tell me that he...died? 

"The ones who will defeat you aren't the Arcobaleno. It'll be my student, Tsuna."

Reborn did not show any signs of disappointment while he was talking to Byakuran. 

"Heh, did you say that Tsunayoshi will defeat me?"

"That's right."

"Haven't you been watching, Reborn?" Byakuran cackled with laughter. "Tsunayoshi had just taken down by me!"

"Don't underestimate the strength of Tsuna's dying will. Besides, I'm not talking about whether you can win."

The strength of Tsuna's dying will? Where did I hear that from? Was it ever possible to make Tsuna wake up from his death?

_"I'll defeat you with my dying will!"_

I remembered him yelling that sentence to Hibari back then. Reborn once told me that Tsuna 'died' with a regret inside his heart and because of that regret, he was reborn to continue where he stopped.

"Tsuna, you've got no other choice than to defeat Byakuran," Reborn stated clearly and the Vongola guardians seemed to start to believe in hope.

"What a surprise! Your last resort at a time like this is to try and slap some fighting spirit into him?!"

"This is my method after all," Reborn replied calmly and he continued to talk to the unconscious brunette. "Listen, Tsuna. You're not the only one who's fighting a battle of dying will. Yuni is sacrificing her life to return you all to a peaceful past."

The Black Spells were too shocked to hear his statement. Yuni was looking at Reborn with disbelief.

"U-Uncle Reborn..."

"The revival of the Arcobalenos does more than bring back order of the world. It's the key to return you to a peaceful past. And Yuni intends to sacrifice her life to achieve that," Reborn resumed.

There was a silence before Byakuran spoke out with interest.

"Is that so?"

"Uncle Reborn! Why do you know?"

"Of course I know. I guessed as much. You and your grandmother are two peas in a pod."

With a ray of hope, Tsuna suddenly coughed from behind and groggily waking up from his death state. All of us brightened up when we saw him back alive once again. 

However, the brunette was not in good shape after he was badly beaten up by Byakuran. He was still determined not to let him taking Yuni away. 

The Millefiore boss went on saying that Tsuna used to be a failure and hopeless student before Reborn came to his life to train him to be the mafia boss. He also got himself involved with dangerous battles especially the Ring Conflict, to fight to get the title of Vongola Decimo. He assumed that if only Tsuna had not got himself involved with the mafia, he would not have to suffer like now. 

The brunette was silent and slowly looking up at him. He was shaking.

"No, that's not true..." Tsuna spoke out. "The future is scary...and painful...and full of uncertainties. There have been a few times where I've felt happy since coming here. But, I feel as though I understand all that now. It's not about what's good or bad. Everything that happens here is a precious part of my life."

Gokudera, Hibari and Yamamoto were silent. We did not expect that Tsuna would have said like that.

"You sure have an odd way of perceiving things. But I want you to think very carefully," Byakuran held out some sort of a weapon that looked like an ice pick. He smiled slyly at Tsuna. "If you die, that'll be a way to comfort yourself."

The silver-haired launched his attack to try to save Tsuna but his Storm Flame did not go through that Sky Flame sphere. Byakuran threw that mini-dragon dart straight to Tsuna's heart. 

All of us screamed, there's no way he could have died for the second time!

"Owww!!"

Tsuna yelped in pain and he quickly tore off his t-shirt. That dart did not aim his heart. It stabbed through Lanchia's ring that had given to him ten years ago.

That ring was the one had protected him. Byakuran was so speechless as he could not believe that a ring could block his attack. The brunette slowly gripped Lanchia's ring and he started to talk.

"It's true after all. Everyone has helped me in some way. Nothing that has happened since I come to the future has been pointless. The bitter things, the painful things, the fun things- It's because of everyone that I'm right here now. All the things that I've found since coming here. The skills, and weapons. None of it would have done any good if I'd been alone. It's because everyone was here that I was able to achieve them. Would you call that unlucky? I wouldn't."

Tsuna lifted his head, he started to smile at Byakuran.

"The time I've spent here with everyone is a treasure to me. My flames were born because of this world you've taken over." 

The mittens he wore were glowing brightly and had turned into his X-Gloves. 

"These are everyone's flames! The fact that you've hurt all those innocent people, I'll make you regret it!"

That was Tsuna's real dying will. Even after he had finally entered Hyper Mode, he was still weak after Byakuran had beaten him. Seconds later, I heard some unknown voices.

_"That child's words are the same as our boss."_

_"The same blood runs through him."_

_"He's an extraordinary man."_

_"It's a shame. That kind of weak idea is useless for Vongola."_

_"How dull."_

I blinked with surprise. That last voice, I heard it before. That voice was the one who saved me from someone who followed me months ago. 

I looked up and I saw the silver-haired man appeared from Hibari's Cloud ring. The one who had been appearing in my strange dreams, he was Vongola Primo's Cloud guardian. 

All the Vongola rings projected out the original owners of the rings. They had the same looks as their current successors. Gokudera's Storm ring was the last to had someone appeared before him.

_"You should just do as you please. Like you always do."_

And another voice that came from Tsuna's Sky ring.

_"You're right, G."_

Tsuna was just as clueless as all of us, even Yuni and Byakuran who seemed to know where the voice came from. The voice once again continued speaking through Vongola's Sky ring.

_"Decimo, I agree with your thoughts. I wish I could lend power to my true successor, but unfortunately, I can't._ _Instead..."_

Someone was coming out from Tsuna's ring, in the form of a spirit and most of us were aware of that person's identity. 

He was Tsuna's ancestor. Giotto, known as Vongola Primo.

_"I'll free you from those shackles."_

The Millefiore boss laughed it off, thinking that it was a silly projection coming out from Tsuna's ring. Yuni disagreed with him and she stated that Byakuran should know it well.

"This is something that could never happen inside the Trinisette, your Mare ring or my pacifier. It's the Vongola ring's miracle of the shield dimension."

"Miracle of the shield dimension?"

"There is a song that had been etched in my memory since the day I was born. The sea knows no limit to its vastness, clam lives through the ages, inheriting their shapes and the rainbow appears now and then, only to fade away again. Mare means sea, Vongola means clam and Arcobaleno means rainbow. This song portrays the different skies of the Trinisette."

I took some time to fully understand the Trinisette. The endless Mare was the horizontal dimensional axis. In other words, it lives across the parallel worlds. The Vongola, which lives through the generations, is a vertical dimensional axis. It lives from past to present, preserving tradition. The Arcobaleno, which never stays in one place. It exists not as a line but as points within the two dimensions. 

At the same time, I learnt that the current form of the Vongola rings was only temporary due to the restriction use of powers set by the boss and the external advisor of the family. With that, Vongola Primo had removed its current form and bringing back the original form of the rings.

After strong encouragement from his ancestor, Tsuna was much more prepared to defeat Byakuran once for all.

The battle just got even more intense. Byakuran looked like he had gone mad and was so happy because Tsuna was the only one who had fought with him until he spat out some of his blood. I did not even care what he was babbling. I was more worried about Yuni and I realised that she had been quiet.

Her flames were radiating.

Almost all of us pleaded her not to continue to sacrifice herself. Nozaru and Tazaru were more alarmed of her actions.

"Wait, Yuni! There's no need to sacrifice yourself for the Arcobaleno!" Tsuna shouted but she merely shook her head.

"I must. Their revival is crucial to return all of you to the peaceful past. And in turn, it will save many innocent lives as well. The time has finally come for me to be able to make good use of my powers. This is the only chance I can take and my destiny which I cannot escape from."

I could not stop the tears coming out from my eyes. She was just a child and she had to do all this for the sake of us. I even called out for her to stop. The older Mukuro suggested that we should not be the bystanders and get working on destroying the Sky flame barrier so that we could safely bring Yuni out from Byakuran and Tsuna's fight. 

She was still giving away her life flames into the pacifiers but she suddenly stopped. The fear look on her face.

"What's wrong, Yuni?" Reborn asked.

"Maybe she's fearing death?" Byakuran sneered.

"I wouldn't be surprised, even if she were. Though she's the princess of the Arcobalenos, she's still a child," Reborn commented.

"It's alright, Yuni! Let's think of another way!" the brunette spoke out. And again, Yuni shook her head.

"I'm sorry. I'll be fine. There is no other way," the flames around her grew larger than usual. "Thank you, everyone."

Everyone's box weapons' powers had merged and gave their full power to Basil's Rain dolphin. Basil's strongest attack only managed to break a small hole of the barrier and it was enough for Gamma to enter and joined Yuni.

"Hey, princess."

"G-Gamma?!"

"I finally get to see you, only to have you slip away yet again. That's not very fair, isn't it?"

Gamma went to Yuni and hugged her. They were talking to each other and Yuni finally smiled for one last time before they vanished in the thin air.

The girl who smiled the warmest had finally gone along with someone she loved.


	32. farewell

Yuni and Gamma sacrificed their life for the sake of all of us. Tsuna could not forgive Byakuran as he was the reason why Yuni had to take her own life. He successfully defeated the Millefiore boss but not all of us were happy to see this ending. 

Nozaru and Tazaru were saddened with their boss and their brother's death. The final battle had caused many innocent people died. When we thought it was a pointless battle, the other Arcobaleno members were finally revived. 

They announced that every wrongdoing Byakuran had done will be permanently erased and the Mare ring power will be sealed off with the help of Yuni's power. 

We spent our last few days to rest before going back to our present world. I could not sleep well because I kept on thinking of Yuni's death. I realised that I talked to her only a few times. If she stayed longer, I might want to be her friend. 

_"Why are you laughing, Yuni-san? Is there something on my face?"_

_"Oh, there is. Your face will turn red soon after I tell you something."_

_"What is it?"_

_"You and Hibari Kyoya. Both of you will be happy together."_

She could see the future. I wonder if she wanted to make me happy by telling me about me and Hibari. 

"Hey, [Name]."

I looked up and Tsuna was standing near the door. He was looking much better after a long rest. I smiled at him before letting him sitting beside me on the bed.

"How are you feeling, Tsuna?" I asked.

"Still feeling a little tired but I'm fine for now. I am so glad that everything is over."

"Yeah, I agree with you. I bet our parents would be asking why we had been missing for months."

"Months? I don't think it's that long."

"I'm bad at Maths, Tsuna."

"Are you the only one who hates Maths?"

We laughed and we could remember our Maths teacher gave us detention for not able to answer some algebra questions in the class.

"That blonde-haired man from your Sky ring, is he your ancestor?"

"It's hard for me to believe it, but, yeah. He is my ancestor."

"It's obvious. He could be your older brother though," I gave a small sigh. "I wanted to talk to the First Cloud when he appeared along with the other guardians."

"Huh? Why is that so?"

"Believe it or not, he once saved my life. And he keeps on appearing in my dreams for strange reasons. I feel like, he wanted to tell me something important."

Tsuna's eyebrows raised with curiosity and he was thinking how was it possible to have those strange dreams of someone who was supposed to be dead long ago. 

"Well, all I know that he was Primo's Cloud guardian and also the head of CEDEF."

"CEDEF? Your father is the current head, right?"

"Yes. Primo and his Cloud guardian established the CEDEF to restrict the use of the rings' powers once he stepped down from his position. I guess he and Daemon Spade were the ones who stayed behind while others left."

"...I see."

"Is there anything wrong, [Name]?"

"I saw how he died, Tsuna. Primo's Cloud guardian died in the train crash along with his wife."

"F-for real?"

I noticed his shocked look and it was probably not a good time to tell him about my dream. My eyes soften as I placed my hand on his shoulder. 

"I'm sorry, I can't tell you more about it. Please give me some time until I'm ready to spill it out."

"Are you sure?"

"I'll tell, but not now. And don't tell others about my dream."

"I'll try but I don't think you can hide this from Hibari."

"I will tell him. I just need more time to understand."

* * *

I took my future self's bag and placed it onto her desk. I even wrote a letter to my future self and placed it on the desk. I would want to clean her messy desk but I was afraid that I might throw away some important things. I turned around and I decided to have a look at my future self's room before I went back to the present world. 

There were many thick books inside the bookshelf and mostly were about medical studies. The wardrobe was filled with certain attire nurses usually wear and only some casual clothes. I guessed that I had been busy working that I did not have time to have fun for myself. 

There were some pictures of my future self and my parents and my friends. I noticed that there was a picture in the frame placed nearby the bedside table. I picked it up and I saw Hibari's future self exchanging rings with my future self. They were smiling. 

It was the same engagement ring he wore on his finger.

My cheeks turned red as I placed the picture back on the bedside table and I immediately left my room. Too quickly that I bumped into someone by accident.

"Are you in a hurry, [Name]?"

I looked up and I ended up meeting with the older Mukuro. He still had the same smirk ever ten years ago and he was taller than he used to be.

"Uh, I'm preparing to leave this world, of course..." I answered awkwardly. He chuckled while looking at my reaction.

"Your face is red. I assumed that you've been looking at a picture of you and Hibari Kyoya's future self. Am I right?"

"What? H-how did you know that??"

"So, it's true."

"Big brother!!"

He laughed louder and my face had turned darker red than before. He never failed to make fun of me. He soon stared at me with a concerned look.

"I'm sorry, [Name]."

"Why? You didn't do anything wrong."

"Do you remember how I created those strong illusions where everyone's death look too real and gruesome? You were angry at me for making Hibari Kyoya's death too real. I didn't think of your feelings back then, so..."

"It's fine. If it is for the sake of defeating Kikyo and others, then I forgive you," I smirked a little at the illusionist. "It was lucky that Kyoya had told me that everything was fake before you do."

"I see that he allows you to call him by his first name," the older Mukuro chuckled. "He's lucky to fell in love with a girl like you."

"And you're lucky to have a forgiving sister."

We laughed a little and I look at him for one last time before I walked toward the secret base's exit. I was about to turn to another way when I heard someone talking. 

A conversation between Gokudera and the older Bianchi. 

They hardly talked to each other because all the time, the silver-haired would collapse at the sight of his sister's face. He disliked her for reason and I guessed I knew why.

"I know you think that the reason your mother died was that our father refused to marry your mother, and tore you apart from her. But the truth is, it was the complete opposite. It was your mother who turned down his marriage proposal. Your mother had been very sick and she knew she didn't have a long time to live."

"W-what?"

"Your mother left you and father because she thought she would only be a burden in her condition. Yet, father continued to write her letters in desperate hopes that the three of you would be able to spend time with each other again. Her disease had killed her before she fell from the cliff."

"N-no way! That's a lie, because-!"

"I don't expect you to understand now but just remember this. You were born into this world, loved by both of your parents."

Whether they were going to talk further or not, there was a sudden crash behind them and Spanner was working on building a strong Mosca to defeat Byakuran. I chuckled so hard before I took some few breaths to calm myself down. Yamamoto once told me that Gokudera had some issues with his older half-sister before I came here, and, it was about their family problem. He hated his father after his mother died, but it seemed that he would no longer hold his inner grudge after learning the truth from the older Bianchi.

We had settled what it should be and we had returned to the present world. 

While we were on our way back, Yuni and all the Arcobalenos had done a lot of things. They had sealed the power of the Mare rings and shared our memories during our stay at the future world to those in the present time. Because their Vongola box weapons were not allowed to be in the present world, the Arcobalenos made them some special rings.

Everything was well. We were safely back to our peaceful world once again. 

Lambo and I-Pin would be crying and hugging Tsuna's mother. Yamamoto would have a long talk with his father, worried that he might not have that chance again. Kyoko and Ryohei had returned to their house to meet their parents. Haru would cry to see her father too. Basil would return to the CEDEF headquarters at Italy. Chrome was about to get some scoldings from Ken but she would be fine. She missed Ken, Chikusa and Mukuro after all. 

Hibari's priority was to see his grandfather but he was willing to wait for me to see my parents first. Even being an adopted child, I was glad to see my parents safe. They were clueless about my behaviour after not returning home for more than a month. They did not ask and they smiled at me.

After an hour, Hibari and I went back to see his grandfather and since both of us were gone for too long, Kusakabe had been the only one to do all our job. Patrolling the school and taking care of his grandfather. I gave an apologetic smile but the skylark seemed to not care about him. 

He did care. He just did not want to show it. 

* * *

_**Future World (Ten Years Later) [Not Reader's POV]** _

"Welcome home!" said Irie Shoichi with his relieved look.

"We did shake up the ground a little bit but everything went well!" Colonello replied.

"That's great! Good work!" the red-haired added.

"Oh, looks like now they've gone back to the past, these guys had woken up from the machine."

All the Vongola guardians, Kyoko, Haru, I-Pin, Chrome and Basil were standing in front of the machine, the place where they stayed in during the whole incident. Not only all of them, [Name] had woken up as well and she was standing beside Hibari Kyoya. While making sure that everyone was present, Gokudera looked around as if he was looking for someone. Yamamoto knew who he was looking for.

"By the way, where's Tsuna?"

"He had returned here before all of you did. He should be up there by now," Shoichi stated.

Back in the forest where the younger Tsuna had first arrived, the older brunette was walking towards the coffin that he slept on and stared at the notebook. Something was written on it and it soon faded away. The Vongola boss merely smiled and looking up at the clear blue sky.

Days later, [Name] was prepared for her work and opened her bag to check something. Her eyes blinked with puzzlement at the sight of a white envelope, written by her past self. She opened it and read its content. 

_To my future self:_

_Honestly, I have no idea what am I supposed to write here because just a 'thank you' word makes you think I'm such a rude person._

_I was scared when I first arrived in this scary world but I was glad that I was not alone. Your fiancee helped me a lot and I won't forget what he had taught me. I also started to learn about my secret ability and maybe my own identity. I'm about to figure out with the mysterious dreams I recently have._

_I still have a long way to go and I'll try my best to overcome any ordeal. Thanks for everything and please send my regards to your fiancee._

_From: Your past self_

_P.S.: By the way, your pet bird from your fiancee's room is really cute. I love its singing voice._

A slight smile carved onto her lips. Her mind snapped at the presence of the skylark behind her.

"What are you reading, [Name]?"

She placed back the envelope inside her bag and she turned to look at him.

"It's a letter from my past self, Kyo-kun. I promise. It's not from my big brother."


	33. newcomer

_"I will not change my mind. Please do not waste your time to tell me what I should not do."_

The surrounding was gloomy than it used to be and I was standing behind the young aristocrat with bluish-green hair. He used to be a happy person and his face was nothing but sorrow. He was sitting in front of a gravestone with someone's name on it.

**_Elena_ **

I was speechless as soon I saw his lover's name engraved on the gravestone. I did see her once in my dream and I could not believe that she was dead. What had happened in the past? 

_"I am doing this for the sake of her. If it wasn't because of Primo's idiotic idea, she would not have died."_

Why he was blaming Vongola Primo for her death? It did not make sense to me at all. Tsuna's ancestor would not do such a bad thing.

_"Please, just stop. I did not want to argue with you at the time like this."_

He covered his face with his hands and he was sobbing quietly. I wanted to place my hand on his shoulder to comfort him but I could not do so. 

_"It is best for you to return home. Your husband would not like it if he sees you with me."_

He slowly turned to look at me and I could see some tears from his eyes.

_"I'll be fine. I need some time to be alone. I hope you understand."_

We were looking at each other before he continued to mourn for his dead lover. 

My alarm clock rang just in time and my eyes opened with surprise. I took some time to realise that I was back to the present world after staying too long in the future world. It felt like it was yesterday and even my dreams were getting stranger than usual. 

I woke up earlier than anyone else because I need to prepare breakfast for Hibari and his grandfather. I left my apartment and I started to walk to his house until I saw a certain redhead sitting near the river.

He wanted to feed a stray cat but he seemed to have trouble with the canned food he was holding and the cat was getting impatient. I went to him as I smiled in a friendly way.

"Hello, is there anything I can help?"

The redhead looked up at me and he had the most unusual red eyes I had ever seen. He looked gloomy and he strongly reminded me of Tsuna. He was embarrassed that he lowered his too low that I could not see his face.

"N-nothing..." he mumbled and was still holding an unopened can. I held out my hand in front of him.

"Please give me that can, I'll help you to open it."

"W-what?" the redhead blinked with surprise. "You have a can opener?"

"No, but I have a better way to open it."

He was reluctant for first before he nervously handed the can to me. I took it and I rummaged my school bag to look for a metal spoon. I used it to press on the top of the can to make a hole. As soon I had done it, I moved the spoon in a clockwise turn until I successfully opened the can lid. He was amazed as I passed it to him.

"Here, you can feed the cat."

The redhead nodded as he quickly took the can and fed the cat. He soon stood up and stared at me.

"Thanks, I never know you're good at it."

"I knew it since I'm working as a housemaid."

"Housemaid? Working?" he tilted his head curiously. "Aren't you a middle-schooler?"

"I just want to earn some extra income," I nervously laughed. 

"I see."

"I better be off for work. Anyway, my name is [Full Name]," I held out my hand for him to shake. "Nice to meet you."

"I'm..." he held out his hand as well to respond my shake. "Kozato Enma."

* * *

I slide the door open to my classroom and I saw Tsuna, Gokudera and Yamamoto talking excitedly. The silver-haired was giving his _I'm-going-to-punch-anyone-who-disrespects-tenth_ look and Yamamoto was looking forward to meeting the new transfer students. I heard about the new transfer students from Hibari and two of them will be coming to my class. 

One of the teachers came inside the class and began to talk regarding the arrival of the transfer students.

"As you all know, seven students from Shimon Middle School will be arriving today to attend lessons here. Two of those students will come to this class. Be courteous, alright?" he looked back at the clipboard. "Now then, I'll have them to introduce themselves. Come on in, Kozato-kun and Shi...Shito....kun?"

I blinked at the name Kozato he had just mentioned. Was it Kozato Enma that I've met at the riverbank? Or maybe it was another Kozato. 

The teacher looked like he had a problem with reading out the other's name correctly before she stopped him from saying further. When she stepped in, the whole students including me in the classroom were shocked to see her appearance. 

Two large inflatable rings around her body, bright coloured clothes and she was almost bald! Who could have been into the worst dress code other than the prefects??

"My name is P. Shitt! Call me Shitopi-chan!" she turned to look at us in some sort of her most prideful way. "My talent is, hakko! My favourite food is pi-pu, pu, pu, piii..."

I had no words to say anything about Shitopi. 

Tsuna was in a state of shock. He was so done meeting weird people in his life. Hana commented that she was abnormal, something that a normal people would say. Gokudera hastily studied on something and suddenly concluding that she was a U.M.A. 

A smart student with an obsession with aliens and ghosts. How could I not forget that?

Another new student came in and he was the same person I met earlier at the river, feeding a stray cat. His face held the same gloomy look and he was so quiet. Even the teacher could not hear him introducing his name.

"He reminds me of my old self," Tsuna mumbled and I heard him.

"Your old self?"

"Yes, I used to be like him. So, I understand what he feels. Being the hopeless and gloomy guy ever."

"If you can be friends with him, I'm sure he will be as cheerful as you are."

"Do you know him, [Name]?"

"I met him at the riverbank. I helped him with something and we're like...becoming friends. I think he's a nice guy, Tsuna. He just needs more friends to mix up with."

"I can't even make friends as good as you are," Tsuna laughed. "Maybe I should try."

Once the transfer students were done with the introduction, the lesson started as usual. I could not help staring at them and they were like other students, paying attention in the class. I let out a small sigh before I started to write down some notes, waiting for the lunch break. 

* * *

"Um, Kyoya."

"What is it?"

"About those transfer students, there are two of them joining my class. Shitopi-chan and Kozato Enma."

I was in the Disciplinary Office to give the lunch box to him. He had eaten his meal and he continued signing some paperwork. He was busier lately since we had been in the future world nearly a month and senior Kusakabe had passed all the reports to him. I wanted to help him but he insisted me to have my meal first. 

"What do you think of them?"

"Shitopi had the most unusual fashion I've ever seen and I'm not sure if you are going to make her wearing an appropriate school uniform. Another student named Kozato Enma. He's kind of like a mirror image of Tsuna. A gloomy and hopeless student, that's what my classmates talk about him."

"I see."

He was probably interested if both of them could be his potential fighter. I had been thinking for a long time if I should tell him about my recent dream. 

The door was open with a loud sound and I heard a stern voice from outside. Hibari did not look up but I turned around to see who it was. 

Another transfer student and the tallest girl I ever saw. She had a slender figure and a large bust. She never smiled and had a frown look on her face. At least her appearance was better than Shitopi.

"Are you the Head of the Disciplinary Committee, Hibari Kyoya?" the tall girl asked and this time, he looked up at her.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Suzuki Adelheid. A third-year student from Shimon Middle School. From today, this Disciplinary Office belongs to the Liquidation Committee."

Liquidation Committee? Was it the same as the Disciplinary Committee?

"If you resist, I'll have to act accordingly."

The scene was quite tense. Of all in sudden, Adelheid was taking control of Namimori Middle School as if it was hers. Why would she want to do that?

"From now on, the order of this school will be protected not by the Disciplinary Committee of Namimori, but the Liquidation Committee of Shimon."

"Sounds interesting. But, for that to happen, you need to get the approval of all the committee members of this school."

"I have their approval, by force."

She took out some photos of several beaten up committee members and a letter of approval. Those signatures were taken by force and my eyes widened with shock. She had gone too far to make sure that the school would be under her control. 

Did it mean that she only needed the Head of Disciplinary Committee's approval?

"Only your approval I needed to have this to happen."

The skylark looked impressed with her actions as he stood up from his seat.

"Looks like you wouldn't give up, even if I rejected that proposal."

"Of course. I would use force to make you see my way."

He went silent for a few seconds before he looked at me. 

"You can leave now. Your work is done here."

"Huh? But, what about both of you?"

"I shall deal with her alone. You don't need to get involved."

His look was telling me that I better leave before Adelheid planned to do something with me. I nodded once and I quickly left the Disciplinary Office. No offence but these transfer students were getting weirder for some reason (except for Enma). 

I ended up meeting another one when I passed the third year classroom. Senior Ryohei was arguing loudly with someone else. Did he got involved in another fight?

"I'm not a genuine idiot like you! I'm the idiot that accepts the fact that I'm an idiot!"

"Huh?? Who are you??"

"I've been here since homeroom!! I'm the hope of the boxing world, Aoba Koyo!!"

"Aoba...Koyo? Bwahahaha!! Green leaves of spring and red leaves of autumn!! That's the most contradictory name I've ever heard!!!"

"I've told you a million times since I was born!! It's the same "leaves", you idiot!!"

"I'm not an idiot! I'm Sasagawa Ryohei!!"

"If you got something to say, put your gloves on and I'll meet you outside!!!"

"I'll take you on any day!!"

I would hurt my eardrums if I continued to listen to their booming voice. I went back to my classroom to pack up my things before heading to Hibari's house.

"Hey, [Name]. How are you doing?"

I could not forget the owner of a cheeky voice coming from outside my classroom. I immediately thought of her future self trying to erase my existence because I stole her supposed boyfriend. I did not want to bring it up and I turned to look at her. 

"Oh, hello, Mizushima-san."

"You've been absent for a long time. Are you suffering from chronic illness?"

"...I am perfectly healthy here. Thanks for your concern."

"Ah, my bad," she giggled. "Perhaps you have been dating with your boyfriend since he was absent from school as long as you were."

I noticed that she wanted me to stay away from Hibari. I reminded myself to not stay with someone like her. 

"Say whatever you want. I am almost late for work." 

I took my bag and I went out from my classroom, leaving Mizushima Risako behind. I was already at the school grounds, passing by the baseball field. The students at there were training as usual and I saw Yamamoto talking to someone taller and older than him. 

Was he one of the transfer students? 

Yamamoto turned to look at me and he smiled, waving at me. I waved back before he came to me with his relaxed look.

"Yo, [Name]! Ready to head back home?"

"Yeah, soon enough. Are you up to train for the next tournament?"

"It's still far away but we need to be prepared. That's why we're taking our time to train and teach the newly recruited players. Like that new guy there, Mizuno Kaoru."

"Mizuno Kaoru," I glanced to take a good look at the person he had mentioned. "He does not look friendly to me."

"I knew you would say that," Yamamoto chuckled. "Trust me, he's a nice guy."

"If you say so," I smiled and I look at my watch. "Oh, I'd better leave before my parents ask-"

"[Name]."

"Yes?"

"Um, how do I put it..." 

Yamamoto scratched the back of his head and he seemed to look a little nervous. 

"You know, right after I have free time, do you want to eat something with me?"

"Oh, that will be great. Tsuna and others are coming too, right?"

"Well, not exactly. I mean, only both of us."

I stared at him with my astonished look. Did he just ask me for a date? He was still waiting for my answer. 

If he meant it, I got myself trapped between Yamamoto Takeshi and Hibari Kyoya _._


	34. conflict

I took out my phone and I scrolled down the contact list. There was Hibari's number and Yamamoto's house number. Hibari was not at home as he was still dealing with Adelheid's proposal. I would not dare to call Yamamoto because I still could not decide if I should go out with him. 

Hibari did not know about this or he would have confronted Yamamoto. He was a kind person but I admitted that I already had feelings towards the skylark. I did not want to hurt his feelings. I did not even know what to do. 

At least I know why Tsuna felt a little trapped between Kyoko and Haru. It was obvious that he liked Kyoko more than Haru although she was not that bad either.

I was utterly confused that I had to ask for someone's advice. I dialled Gokudera's number instead and I was waiting for him to pick up my call.

"What do you want now, woman? I'm busy here," he answered with annoyance.

"Busy with what? Investigating whether Shitopi is a U.M.A.?" I asked.

"Indeed yes! You see, she's communicating with her strange language and I'm going to check on her further if she could make any contact with other aliens at the outer space!"

Guess he was taking these things too far when Shitopi was nothing but absolutely a normal person with a strange sense of fashion.

"Anyway, why do you call me for?"

"Um, I want to know if you have your sister's phone number."

"What-!" he almost dropped his phone before he got back to me. "Why are you looking for her?? Learning to use her poison cooking??"

"No, not that! It's just- never mind. I'll see you at school tomorrow."

I ended the call and placed the phone on the table. This was even harder than solving any damn Maths questions.

* * *

"Oh crap! I'm late for school!!"

I overslept and the feeling of panic was coming to me. I was almost late that I had to run without taking any breakfast. I ran to school and I noticed that there were a lot of students gathering around the school ground. There was a large banner hanging at the school building with the word 'purge' on it. 

I asked one of the students to find out what was happening.

"I don't know either. I hear that the head of Disciplinary Committee is going to fight against a transfer student who happened to be from the Liquidation Committee," a student answered with confusion.

"Man, that girl is nuts! She's trying to take down Hibari Kyoya??" the other said with his unbelievable tone.

He did not return home last night because both of them could not agree with the approval? Was it getting serious? Tsuna and his friends were already at the rooftop to settle it up before some teachers dismissed all of us, demanding us to return to our classes. 

I walked straight to the Disciplinary Office and quickly slide the door open. The skylark seemed to be fine but I could see a small bruise on his lips. Did Adelheid hit him during the fight?

"You're late," he said without looking at me. I furrowed my eyebrows before asking him.

"Why are you not coming back home last night?"

"I have something to settle."

"Settle until both you and Adelheid need to fight at the rooftop? And you just got hurt."

"It's nothing you should care about-"

"What do you mean by that?" I snapped. "Don't you understand how worried I am when you did not return home last night?? I thought Adelheid might have done something worse on you as she did to all the committee members!"

"Worried?" Hibari turned around and he was glaring at me. "Are you really worried about me or you're thinking of Yamamoto Takeshi?"

"W-what are you talking about?"

"Don't play dumb. He asked you for a date because he started to have feelings for you. You told him to give yourself some time to think about it."

"I..." 

I did not want to hide it from him because I did not want to cause more trouble between him and Yamamoto. The question was how did he know that Yamamoto was asking me for a date? 

When he suddenly winced with pain, I quickly went to him to check his injury. He slapped my hand away from his face, looking at me coldly.

"I'm fine. Return to your class right now."

I was stunned by his actions. He grew even colder and he refused to let me help him. The tears almost burst out from my eyes and I ran out from the Disciplinary Office. My elbow accidentally hit someone nearby the room. Someone gripped my arm tightly and I was forced to look at them.

"Watch where you're-" 

Adelheid's stern look immediately changed when she saw my face. 

"A-are you alright? Why are you crying?"

I could not answer and I shook my arm off from her grip. I ran out of the school area, ignoring the yelling voices from the prefects.

* * *

"Here are the croissants you've ordered, miss."

I was in a bakery shop to buy some pastries after realising that I did not have any meals since morning. My eyes were a little swollen and I took out my wallet to take out some money. I froze to see that I did not have enough money to pay for the pastries.

"Is there anything wrong?"

The cashier was waiting for me to pay and I grew nervous. I did not want to cancel my order but I did not have enough money to pay. 

"I'll pay for it~"

A random guy stood beside me in sudden and gave his money to the cashier. I slowly turned my head to see a guy with glasses and he was wearing a white fedora hat. Judging by the school uniform he was wearing, I found out that he was also one of the transfer students. 

"Uh, thanks. I'll pay you back soon-"

"No, no. It's a treat for a cute girl like you~" he winked at me. "You must be a student from Namimori Middle, right?"

"Yeah. Are you one of the transfer students? I don't think I've seen you around."

"Yes, I am. My name's Katou Julie," he introduced his name. "I prefer to walk around than staying in school."

"I see. But why would you want to pay for me?"

"You know, it hurt my feelings to see a girl crying. So, I thought that I could help you out," he smiled. "Why are you here? The school hours are not over yet."

"I'm not...feeling well..."

"Really?"

I did not say anything and I was about to cry again. My throat started to hurt and I was gripping the plastic bag tightly. I felt like I wanted to scream on top of my lungs. 

Katou Julie slowly touched my hair to soothe my feelings. I began to calm down and I could not believe that I felt comfortable with his kind act.

For some reason, his gentle touch reminded me of someone.

"Don't cry now, little butterfly. Everything is going to be fine."

I looked at him and he was smiling, giving his concerned look to me. He was quite different from being a flirty guy. 

Chikusa appeared from nowhere and he removed Julie's hand from my hair. He was frowning at him and he nearly wanted to break his wrist. 

"What are you trying to do with her, you pervert?"

"H-hey, calm down. I'm trying to make her happy since she's about to cry."

"Maybe you are the one who made her cry," Chikusa replied coldly as he released the other's hand and dragged me out from the bakery shop. 

"W-what are you doing? I didn't have the chance to say thanks to him-"

"Save it for yourself, [Name]. That guy looks like bad news to me."

He would not bother to ask me anything as he continued to take me back to my apartment. He was making sure that I would rest before I could go back to school the next day. 

What did he mean by Katou Julie was a piece of bad news?

* * *

It had been more than four days I did not talk to Hibari after that cold argument. I was not in my usual mood but I tried to hide it. I spent every night crying until I had a bad headache. I felt like I was about to catch a fever anytime. 

After placing the lunch box on his desk, I was about to leave when I saw Adelheid standing at the office's door. She frowned but her concerned tone did not match her current look.

"Are you okay, [Last Name]?" Adelheid asked.

"Of course I'm fine, Adel-san," I tried to smile at her. "I'm sorry for calling you that way."

"Please don't mention it. You can do so if you feel comfortable with it."

"I see. Why are you here? Still looking for Kyoya over the proposal?"

"I have some other things to settle. I just want to know if both of you had been reconciled or not."

"You're funny, Adel-san," I painfully chuckled. "Do we look like a dating couple-"

"I'm serious here, [Last Name]. I know both of you are together and there's no point denying it."

"Why would you say so?"

"The day after you left the office, Hibari Kyoya wanted to catch up with you but he couldn't do so. I've seen it and I confronted him, demanding him to tell me why he treated you coldly over another boy who had a crush on you. He never answered obviously."

"If he wanted to catch up with me, why he didn't do so for these days I'm here?"

Adelheid could not reply to me and I sighed. It was not as easy as I thought.

"Thank you so much for your concern, Adel-san. I'll be fine. You can wait here until he's coming in."

I left the Disciplinary Office without looking at her. I managed to hear the last word she said before I went back to my class.

"Don't regret it, [Last Name]."

Only a few students were in the class and I took this chance to eat some pills to prevent myself from getting a fever. I noticed that Tsuna had been hanging around with the transfer students lately and I was happy to hear that they became friends. The brunette did try his best and I guess Enma grew comfortable with his presence. 

I was so pathetic. If Tsuna could break his barrier to make friends with anyone, why I could not do the same? 

All I need to do was to tell Yamamoto that we could be friends and explain to him that I already fell in love with someone else. I was sure that he would accept it despite his disappointment. Because after that, I would go and try to talk to Hibari again even if he refused to look at me.

I wanted to end this conflict as soon as possible.

* * *

Right after I was done with some chores and preparing dinner for Satoshi-san, I went back to school again to see Yamamoto. The school was quiet and some students were seen clearing off the field and cleaning up their sports equipment. I approached one of them and asked if they had seen Yamamoto around. They told me that he went to the locker room with Mizuno Kaoru and I went off to meet them. 

The place was eerie when it was dark but at least the locker room provided the brightest light to illuminate the alleyway. I heard Yamamoto's voice from inside and when I was about to knock the door, I heard a strange noise.

It sounded like a large drill machine. I took a closer look and alarge amount of blood splattered at the glass door.

I saw a silhouette. A person was impaled with a large, sharp weapon.

My whole body was shaking with fear and my legs gave out, causing me to fall on the floor. My breathing was getting incoherent and I tried to crawl away. The door was opened and I saw a tall guy standing in front of me. It was dark that I could not get a good look at his face but once my eyes fell straight onto the sight of the blood in the locker room...

Yamamoto Takeshi was lying on the pool of blood, motionless.

I let out of the loudest blood-curdling scream I had ever done and I crawled even faster, getting out from the locker room.

I fainted. 


	35. hostage

"[Name]! [Name]! Please wake up!!"

"Calm down, Chrome. She's still recovering from her bad fever~"

"She has nothing to do with it! Please let her go!"

"Well, you know we can't do that. She had seen what she was not supposed to see."

I felt tired and my fever's condition did not have much improvement though it was not as bad as it was earlier. I could not remember why I passed out and Chrome's frantic voice gave me a feeling that it was not a good news. 

"You and your friends are pretty worried about [Name]. Is she important to you?"

"Of course! She- she's my best friend!"

"I think [Name] is more than just a best friend to you~ However, I'm only giving you ten minutes to talk with her. After that, I'll send you back to my room. I can't wait to let you try some cute dresses I brought for you~"

The other's voice faded away and it seemed that he already left the room, leaving only me and Chrome. I took a deep breath as I tried to wake up and she turned to look at me with her relieved look. 

"[Name]! Are you alright??"

"C-Chrome..."

"Thank goodness you're safe..." she spoke again with her strained voice. "Boss and everyone else is worried sick when you've taken as the Shimon Famiglia's hostage."

"Huh? Hostage? Me?"

"You...don't remember what happened?"

I shook my head lightly and I could see that she was not ready to tell me the whole story. My hands went cold as I gently touched her hand.

"Chrome, please tell me. What is happening after I passed out?"

"Boss's Sun Guardian heard your blood-curdling scream from the locker room and when he went in, you were nowhere to be found. And, he saw Boss's Rain Guardian lying in a pool of blood, suffering from a severe injury."

"Yamamoto-" my eyes widened with horror and I gripped her hands tightly. "How's he? Is he still alive?? Please don't tell me he's dead-!"

"He's alive, the doctors saved him!" Chrome interrupted loudly to stop me from panicking. "T-though, with his serious injuries, maybe he won't be able to...to play baseball for the rest of his life..."

I went quiet and I slowly released her hands. I was glad to hear that Yamamoto was alive but to think that he would not be able to walk and play baseball again, my heart crushed into pieces. 

It felt like it was my fault. He once got hurt during the skit rehearsal to save me. If only I did not meet him in the first place, he would not have suffered. 

"[Name]?"

"What about Tsuna and others? Are they alright?"

"We were in shock back then and his Storm Guardian concluded that you've been taken away by his Rain Guardian's attacker. I mean, you are the witness."

"Witness? I didn't even see that attacker's face..."

"Huh? You didn't see his face?"

"It's too dark to see his face. Then, what happened next?"

"Boss decided to find out who was the culprit. So, he wanted Vongola Nono to go on with the Inheritance Ceremony. The culprit should be attending as well to cause trouble. As expected, they appeared and they stole something important from the Vongola, claiming that they needed it to activate their ring powers. They managed to defeat us and I was brought here as a hostage."

"...then, Kyoya is safe, right?"

"The Cloud Guardian? Um, he's in bad shape but he should be fine..." 

"...why?"

"[Name]?"

"Why would the culprit want to attack the Vongola?? Why would they do this until they have to kill someone?? Why would they want to hurt my friends?! Just WHO THE HELL ARE THEY?!!"

Chrome quickly stood up and hug me as tightly as she could. So tight that I could not afford to yell again and I cried rather loudly. She did not let go of me and continued to pat my back. 

"I'm sorry, [Name]. My hug may not as comfortable as the Cloud Guardian's hug but I do not wish to see you crying with despair. Boss and his friends are on their way to defeat the Shimon Famiglia, so please wait for him."

I nodded and I hastily wiped off my tears with a tissue paper I took from the bedside table. With Chrome's presence even if it was only for temporary, I felt relaxed and I was looking around the room where I slept. 

"Shimon Famiglia? Does that mean, Kozato Enma and the other transfer students are the ones who caused this trouble?"

"Unfortunately, yes. They claimed that the Vongola Primo had killed Cozart Shimon, their first boss and they did this to avenge for his death. Even Boss could not believe that Primo would have done it."

"Primo would not kill anyone. And I thought Enma and others are a good person. Why would they..."

"There must be something wrong but they strongly believe that their only way is to crush Vongola."

"You're saying that-"

"Hey, Chrome~ Are you done talking? It's time for me to bring you back to your room~"

We heard Katou Julie's voice from outside my room and Chrome grew nervous. She turned to look at me and she gripped my hands tightly before she whispered. 

"[Name], for strange reasons, I am not able to contact Mukuro. If it is possible, try to escape from this place and find Boss and others. They should be around on this island." 

"What about you? You're not going to escape?"

"I'll try my best, [Name]. And, be careful with that guy outside your room."

"Katou Julie? I know he's Enma's friend or an ally but, why?"

"I don't know. I think he's...dangerous."

The door was open and Chrome quickly went to him before she returned to her room. As I had confirmed that no one was outside my room, I walked around the room to look for a place to escape. The windows were tightly shut and there was no sign of any cracks or holes from the walls. Even if I could picklock the door, there was a high chance that I would be caught by any Shimon Famiglia members. 

I took out two pieces of hairpins from my pocket and I started to picklock the door as quietly as possible. It was tough because the doorknob was as old as the ancient paintings from the museum paintings. 

I could hear the footsteps coming to my room and I quickly jumped on my bed, pretending that I was still sick, trying to get some sleep. 

Katou Julie opened the door once again to check on me and he had the same grin I had seen when we first met at the bakery.

Chikusa and Chrome told me that this guy was a bad news. 

"Hello, [Name]~ Looks like we meet again. Perhaps this is truly a fate that brought us together, eh?"

"H-how did you know my name?"

"From Chrome. She called your name, didn't she?" he winked. "Are you feeling better? Your fever temperature is so high that we nearly had to send you to the hospital."

"And yet, you brought me to this place," I replied bluntly. 

"Ah, don't be mad, [Name]. We have to keep you here because you've seen something you should not see. But we promised to that young Vongola that we will bring you back once we've settled our business with them."

"Vongola Primo would not do anything that goes against his will," I glared at Julie. "Even if you have absolute evidence to prove that he did it, I will not believe that he's the killer."

His grin faltered when he heard my sentences. He looked like he was about to reveal his true nature. 

"A complete normal girl like you knows well about the Vongola. Now that's pretty interesting."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"A failed test subject from the Estraneo Famiglia. Have a special sibling-like relationship with Rokudo Mukuro and later being adopted by a married couple. Attending the same school with Sawada Tsunayoshi and working as Hibari Kyoya's handmaid. With that special healing ability, you have been heavily involved with the Vongola until now."

"Wait for a second!" I yelled and my eyes widened with shock. "H-how did you know about my past??"

"Ever heard of the word research~?" his smirk grew wider. "Either way, I can't wait to see the fall of Vongola Decimo. He's not fit to be the boss just like his damned ancestor. The Vongola doesn't need a weak leader like both of them."

I frowned a little. Those sentences did not fit Katou Julie's character. If he was a Shimon member who wanted to avenge for Cozart Shimon's death, why would he care so much about the Vongola?

_"He's not fit to be the Vongola boss just like his damned ancestor."_

Something was not right. I happened to recall the recent dream where I saw the aristocrat mourning for his dead lover.

_"I am doing this for the sake of her. If it wasn't because of Primo's idiotic idea, she would not have died."_

"You're not Katou Julie, right?"

"Hm? What are you talking about? What makes you think like that?"

"I...I don't know. Maybe it's my instinct..."

"You're so mean, [Name]! Why would you say something bad like that to me??"

"Because you're not him!" I shouted. "You blame Vongola Primo for Elena's death!"

I froze, realising that I slipped out something that could reveal Katou Julie's true identity. 

He was stunned for a second. Seconds later, his grin looked like a madman's grin as if he was about to burst out laughing. He slowly placed his hand on my shoulder and I knew that I was in real danger. 

"You are incredible, young lady," he muttered darkly. "Truly incredible. You are the first person to know that I am not Katou Julie. Perhaps my acting skills are indeed poor."

He was gripping my shoulder a little. My heart was beating faster and I could not breathe well.

"Tell me. Who are you?"

"M-me??" I stuttered. "Y-you already know who I am, right?"

"No one in this world knows my lover's name, young lady," he growled and his grip was getting stronger. "Tell me your identity or I'll crush your bones."

"I-I don't know what you're trying to say! Just let me go!"

"Well, you ask for this to happen."

His grip tightened and I screamed with pain. The strength was so strong that he nearly broke my shoulder bones apart. 

"Stop it! Please let me off!! Stop!!"

He soon stopped gripping my shoulders and he was pressing his head with his hands. He looked like he was having a migraine and he could not stop yelling with pain. 

I was confused by looking at his state but my main priority was to escape from the room before he could kill me. 

Without knowing the exit route of the Shimon Famiglia's base, I continued to run around to find a possible place to leave. Or not, I would find a place to hide before anyone would catch me again. 

I did think of trying to save Chrome as well but she wanted me to escape alone. I did not know which room she was kept locked away. 

"Come back here, young lady!!"

I was horrified when I heard Julie's angry voice and I kept on running, ignoring the pain I was suffering. I saw a window wide open and it was the only exit I could think of. 

The problem was that there was no place for a safe landing. Only trees. The base was way too high and I would have multiple broken bones if I jumped out from the window. 

Getting killed by Katou Julie or getting myself injured?

I climbed on the window's frame and he finally found me after running around the base. I was expecting his darkened look after I knew about his real identity.

But instead, his face was horrified. Was it him or Julie?

"D-don't do it...or else...he will not forgive me. Please..."

I was looking at him and I shook my head. I did not want to risk myself to let him kill me. He tried to grab my hand and I jumped out from the window. I heard his scream and I shut my eyes tightly, waiting for the time to feel my face crashed into the trees.

"I'm sorry, Kyoya."


	36. rewrite

_"Hey, why are you holding her like that??"_

I was standing in the ballroom with many unfamiliar guests and one of the drunken men was giving his dislike look at someone who was standing beside me. 

_"And perhaps you can tell me why are you following this young lady?"_

The blonde-haired man was glaring at them and I could see that he was wearing a mask.

_"We...we just want her to drink with us, that's all!"_

_"Find someone else to drink with and leave her alone."_

Those men trembled and slowly backed away from both of us. I slowly looked up at him and I felt like I did thank him for that. 

_"You're welcome. You should be careful with these drunkards."_

If I had to face this kind of people, I rather stay at home and read some books. I was never a sociable person after all. 

_"Don't be upset, mademoiselle. Your presence surely makes Elena feel joyful. Besides..."_

He lowered his body a little so that he could whisper in my ear with his gentle voice. 

_"...I have been looking forward to seeing you, little papillon."_

I had no words to describe him. He was different from Hibari. 

I heard a loud clap coming from a woman's hand. All the guests turned their heads to see her and she announced that everyone will get to dance once she instructed the orchestra band to play the music. 

Once the music had started, Elena and Daemon were the first to waltz across the floor gracefully. 

They were so happy before a tragedy befell on Elena. Her death caused Daemon to be a broken man, which led him to have a grudge against Vongola Primo.

_"Shall we dance, mademoiselle?"_

The blonde-haired man held out his hand, smiling as he was inviting me to dance with him. I did not know how to swim, let alone dancing. But I could not refuse his invitation since I-

"[Name]! [Name]!" 

I twitched with shock and I found myself stuck in the tree thick vines. I remembered that I jumped out of the window to avoid being caught by Katou Julie or whoever he was. I thought I would crash on the ground only to have the vines to catch me like helpless fishes in the fisherman's net.

"[Name]! [Name]!"

A loud chirping noise was calling out for my name and a yellow fluffy bird landed on my arm. 

"Hibird, you're here!" my eyes brightened until I saw that Kusakabe's signature hairstyle on its head. "...did you just get a new haircut?"

What in the world Hibari had done to his pet bird?

"[Name]! [Name]!"

"I know! Stop repeating my name already!"

The bird was about to sing the Namimori Middle school's song and I had to tell them to stop.

"Fine, fine, just call my name if you want. This is not the right time to sing the school song."

The bird nodded once and it started to fly around while waiting for me to free myself from the tree vines. I tried to pull my arms to see its durability and it appeared that it was almost dead. I pulled one of my arms hard enough to tear down the vines. 

It took me some time until I finally landed on the ground. There were some tear on my white school uniform and mostly were coming from my sleeves. My shoulder was still injured and I hate to think if it was dislocated.

_"I can help you with that, [Name]."_

I could imagine Reborn's look while saying those sentences. Being his student must be tough. 

Hibird landed on my uninjured shoulder and I started to walk, looking for a way out from the forest. Or maybe I would be able to meet Tsuna and others.

I was planning to tell Yamamoto that we could be friends before the Shimon Famiglia caused the chaos. What I was supposed to do if I did meet Hibari? It had been days we did not talk.

Who was the one told him that Yamamoto was asking me for a date?

"That's impossible! Are you trying to say that Primo had seen through my plan?!"

I heard Daemon Spade's enrage voice from far and it meant that I was close to meet anyone at there. I walked quickly until I was almost out of the forest. 

Vongola Primo's Mist Guardian was standing with the controlled Chrome and there was a heavily bandaged Vindice guard, holding some heavy chains as he was ready to pull Adelheid and Kaoru in the darkness. 

Tsuna, Gokudera, Lambo and Hibari were there and I was surprised to see Yamamoto. He was completely healthy and he could stand. 

I thought he was heavily wounded. 

"C-Cozart Shimon is..." Adelheid spoke out with a shocked look.

"It seems as though the handed-down history of the Shimon Famiglia has been rewritten," Reborn commented.

"Vongola Primo never betrayed the first Shimon! Their friendship never wavered at all!" Tsuna spoke out with his relieved look.

"H-how dare you, Primo! You faked Cozart's death!"

Daemon was the one who caused the Vongola and the Shimon to fight at each other for all this time. He possessed Katou Julie to make his job easier. 

He was trying to kill me after knowing his lover's name. Then why he would not let me jump out from the window?

Someone will not forgive him if anything happened to me.

The Vindice went on to arrest Adelheid and Kaoru after losing in their match. They were forcefully being pulled into the black hole and she was pleading Tsuna to save Enma. 

"Please, save him!!"

She was crying bitterly.

"That boy...Enma's heart is now broken beyond the point of reach. The past of Cozart and his companions won't even reach him. The only thing that can save him is you. Up until the day before the Inheritance Ceremony, he believed in you...just like Vongola Primo and Cozart Shimon."

What did she say? What had happened to Enma?

"I don't expect you to be able to forgive me...for all the harm that I've caused you up until now, but...I'm sorry..."

"Adelheid!!" Tsuna called out for her but it seemed that she was not going to hear him. 

Without thinking, I went out of the forest and my sudden presence had frightened everyone. Daemon Spade's eyes widened when he found out that I was still alive.

I was looking at Adelheid and I yelled loudly so that she could hear me. 

"Adel-san! Once everything is over, we need to talk!"

She was giving her bewildered look before I continued to yell.

"You heard me, right?! We're going to have a long talk after this war is completely over!"

It took her some time for her to understand what I said and she nodded once before disappearing into the darkness. The same thing happened to Kaoru. The last thing he ever asked was if he could become friends again with Yamamoto.

He nodded once and said he would.

Daemon gave a cackling laugh and he would eventually continue to destroy the current Vongola Famiglia that would be taken over by Tsuna. The enraged Yamamoto soon volunteered to fight the illusionist as payback for using Shimon Famiglia and hurting Kaoru.

"[Name], stay back. I don't want you to get hurt."

I nodded and I went even further from where he stood. Daemon hid with his mist flames but Yamamoto would not be fooled and he unleashed his twelfth sword style. His twelfth style appeared to have two styles. 

The first one, a style that could tear Daemon apart by countless slashes, like drizzling rain. He explained that he used Jiro to sense Daemon's presence. As for the second one, he used Kojiro to give more blows to the illusionist. His two swords were perfect to go against any mist flame users all thanks to his fight experience with Genkishi.

Daemon was unable to fight further and Yamamoto was determined to finish him off. Chrome suddenly appeared in front of him and not allowing him to do so. 

Even after Yamamoto politely asked her to move, she would not budge. He sighed after knowing that he had reached his limit before he passed the strange-looking spiky stone to Chrome.

Daemon did turn around just to look at me. Despite his sinister smile, there was a pained look from his eyes.

"I need to talk to you. I have the key to answer all the things that happened to you."

"Huh? Key?"

He did not say further as he and Chrome disappeared through the mist.

Yamamoto was exhausted and he knelt on the ground, using the sword as his support. We found out that he was not fully recovered despite his wounds had miraculously healed. I wanted to check on him when the skylark suddenly took my hand and he was bringing me to another place.

"Wait, where are you going to take her to-" Tsuna asked before Reborn interrupted him.

"Let them be, Tsuna. Hibari has been worrying about her for days after she was missing."

"We are worried as much as he does!" Gokudera snapped with annoyance.

"Ahahaha, the stupid Dera is jealous!"

The silver-haired could not hold back his anger and he hit Lambo's head, caused him to wail loudly. I could not help him as I was forced to follow Hibari to the forest.

"Where are we going-"

He sped up, gripping my hand tighter and I could not finish my sentences. We were already in a deep area of the forest and he pushed me to sit down near the large tree.

I gulped nervously. I still did not know what he wanted to do to me until he knelt and ripped off my shirt sleeve.

"K-Kyoya, what are you trying to do?!" I shrieked with horror while covering my exposed shoulder.

No way. Was he- No, this should not be happening!

"I'm going to fix your dislocated shoulder," Hibari replied, letting out a small sigh. "Stop thinking something else, will you?"

"E-excuse me!" my face grew redder. "You didn't even tell me what you want to do! How did you know that I have dislocated shoulder??"

"Your standing posture looked odd when you came out from the forest, " he replied and he was looking at me intently. "Did you hurt yourself again, [Name]?"

"No, it...it was Julie. Wait, not him-"

"Who exactly hurt your shoulder?"

"It's Daemon Spade. He tried to kill me after I knew that he was possessing Katou Julie. He failed to do so and I took the chance to run away and jumped out from the window-"

"Jumped out from the window??"

"Well...rather than being killed by Daemon, right?"

The skylark gritted his teeth and he felt like he wanted to murder Daemon more than anything. He took off his black uniform and gave it to me, much to my curiosity.

"Use it to bury your face. I'm fixing your shoulder."

"W-what??" my face went pale. "You're going to fix it??"

"You're not telling me that you will walk around without fixing it?"

"H-how about no? I-I don't think I'm ready for this..."

"Just one pull and you'll be fine, [Name]."

"That's going to be painful!" I nearly cried. "I don't want to do this!"

He placed his hands against my face to keep me quiet. We were staring at each other and he maintained his serious look.

"I am not trying to hurt you. I am trying to save you. If your shoulder did not get to fix it in time, you will have worse consequences. You will not be able to fight like you used to be."

I did not say anything. I listened to all his words.

"If you want to save Kozato Enma and Chrome Dokuro and help us fight against Daemon Spade, then you will need to deal with your injury."

I was still listening and this time, I slowly nodded my head. He leaned his forehead against mine.

"It may be painful but it will be over," he said softly. "I know you can do this, [Name]."

"...okay. I'll bear the pain..."

"That's good to hear. Now, get ready."

I folded the black uniform and I buried my face onto it while taking some few deep breaths to calm myself. Hibari grabbed the wrist of my injured arm and once he saw me prepared, he pulled my injured arm forward and straight.

"Arrghh!!"

I screamed in sudden and I could feel my dislocated shoulder popped back in by itself. I gasped in pain, trying to breathe as normal as I could. 

"Feeling better?"

"Y-yeah...it's still painful...but I can finally...move my arm..." I answered weakly. "I'm...tired..."

"Me too, after that fight against Adelheid."

Hibari sat beside me and leaned against the tree. I was already tired and I dozed off beside him. He placed his arm around my shoulder before he fell asleep. 


	37. rescue

Since Hibari tore off my sleeve shirt to fix my dislocated shoulder, he brought a spare shirt for me to wear. It was a little larger than my shirt and I had to roll the sleeve to my elbows.

We decided to take a rest at night before we continued to save Enma and Chrome. I eventually heard the whole story from Tsuna and Gokudera.

Starting from the Shimon Famiglia attack during the Inheritance Ceremony, the revival of the Vongola rings, Yamamoto's miraculous recovery all thanks to Byakuran's help, the battle against Enma's guardian and the truth about Vongola Primo and Cozart Shimon's past.

Tsuna had been in the state of shock ever since Yamamoto got attacked but thankfully, he got back to his self. He admitted that he had been worrying after Chrome and I were held as Shimon's hostages.

If we did not know that it was all Daemon Spade's evil plan, the enmity between the Vongola and the Shimon would not be solved.

Once we were done talking, I brought Yamamoto to the riverside so that I could talk with him. It was an awkward situation for both of us because I did not know where to begin. I did not want to waste more time as I took a deep breath and looked at him. 

"Yamamoto, I've been meaning to tell you something important," I gulped nervously. "I did want to tell you when you're in the locker room with someone but..."

"I was attacked, right?" Yamamoto spoke out. "I heard your scream before I passed out. I admitted that I was worried about you after I woke up."

"At least I'm still alive," I let out a small sigh. "I'm more worried about you. Are you sure Byakuran is not doing anything bad to you?"

"No, he helped me a lot. Trust me, he's different from his evil self. I want to thank him if we have the chance to meet again."

"...I want to thank him too," I bit my lips for a second. I was hesitating. "For saving my close friend."

"[Name]?"

"I-I'm so sorry, Yamamoto. I understand that you like me, but I...I only see you as a friend. Or more like, a brother I never had."

"A brother?"

"S-sorry, but yes. Both you and Mukuro are like brothers I never have. I can never forget that you saved me from being hit by that sandbag. You did help me a lot the moment I started to come to Namimori Middle school. It's just that...Kyoya has been a special person to me in my life."

He was waiting for me to explain. I lowered my head because I was afraid to see his disappointed look. 

"I met him when we were young. He was the first person who made me happy after I was freed from the Estraneo Famiglia. I feel like he knows what I need the most. Those days when we were in the future world, I badly wanted to see him. I...I..."

"It's fine, [Name]. I understand."

"Huh?"

"I knew that I would lose to Hibari," Yamamoto smiled. "Your heart choose him over me."

"You knew? But why-"

"I knew that both of you have been together but if I didn't take my chance to ask you for a date, I would regret for the rest of my life. Besides, you probably thinking why he did not talk to you for those days before you were kidnapped."

"Because he thinks that I would choose you?"

"Well, I saw you crying when you leave the Disciplinary Office. I went to see him and I made him explain why did he make you upset. We ended up fighting at the rooftop until Tsuna, Gokudera and Reborn stopped both of us."

"Wait, you and Kyoya fought?" I frowned at him.

"Yeah and we were scolded by that baby tutor. He made us not to talk to you until you are ready to make the right choice."

"If...if only I knew..."

"Sorry for the trouble I've caused, [Name]," he grinned and he touched my head gently. "As long as you are happy with someone you love, then I am perfectly fine with it."

I started at him and I grinned back to him.

"I still can go out with you, Yamamoto. I'll tell Kyoya that I want to have a lunch break with my special friend."

"Really? Are you sure he would let you eat with me?"

"I see no problem at all if he could trust you."

* * *

Rokudo Mukuro arrived at the island and he was trying to save Chrome. It meant that he had to fight against Katou Julie or Daemon Spade. We had been walking until we stopped right in front of a large cave. As there were no other places to explore on the island, we decided to enter the cave cautiously.

Once we arrived, our eyes widened with surprise to see an ancient underground castle. The red-like flames were the Earth Flames possessed by Kozato Enma and it was bursting out from each of the castle's windows. Tsuna's Sky Lion pet, Natsu jumped out and ran into the castle's entrance. Without waiting, I carried Lambo at my arms and we ran inside together following Natsu's trace.

The castle's interior was as large as it looked from outside. It felt like we were entering into the castle of the ancient kingdoms from European countries. The surroundings in the castle strongly reminded me of the strange dreams since most of the time, those dreams often took place in the royalty's mansion. 

Natsu roared and we ran to where the sound came from. The sky lion cub was scratching the door impatiently.

With curiosity, we slowly opened the door and peeked inside the supposed ballroom. A white-haired boy was sitting onto a weird looking chair and he was looking at us with murderous eyes. Gokudera and Yamamoto were assuming that he could be Daemon Spade's assistant but to me and Tsuna, that boy was Kozato Enma.

Natsu was running towards Enma but he was scaring Natsu away with a scary glare. The lion cub shrunk timidly and went back to Tsuna. The brunette calmed his pet and tried to call out for Enma, telling him that Vongola Primo had never betrayed Cozart Shimon in the past. Enma kept on repeating the same sentences, saying that Vongola had destroyed his ancestor and his family. He used his Earth flames and almost releasing his gravity powers around him.

I had a horrible feeling inside my head to see him in that state. He was no longer that Kozato Enma I knew. Our words could not reach him and he became a tool of revenge. It would take us some time to wake him up. Tsuna firmly told us that he would be the one to save Enma.

"What are you talking about? That little runt is my prey."

"Hibari-san?"

"I suppose I can wait for you to be killed first. Afterwards, I'll bite him to death."

"Huh? You're just assuming that I'll be killed??"

"Damn it, Hibari! You're looking down on Tenth!"

"Hey, hey! Calm down, Gokudera!"

Yamamoto was trying to hold back the silverette from attacking Hibari. Gokudera was giving me that 'can't-you-just-do-something-about-that-school-lover-freak' look and I shrugged, telling him that it was his way to say good luck to Tsuna. 

Either way, we stood there watching Tsuna as he ate a pill and went into Hyper Mode as he was ready to bring Enma back to his senses.

Tsuna was flying towards him and Enma started to use his flames, releasing some strange looking spheres that could manipulate the gravity freely. The spheres kept on pulling Tsuna to avoid him from flying further. The brunette did not give up and he could free himself for a moment. All the spheres broke and had turned into a large number of black holes.

"When a star is crushed by its gravity, what's born afterwards is a black hole," Reborn explained as he watched.

"A black hole? Even light itself can't escape from its absolute gravity!" Gokudera commented with intense.

"That's right. Getting pulled in even once would be the end. It can destroy absolutely anything."

We were feeling uneasy as we watched Tsuna almost getting pulled into the black hole. I did not want to predict or imagine the worse outcome. Adelheid wanted us to save Enma and we would do it.

With Tsuna's cambio forma, his upgraded Vongola gear had changed after combining with Natsu and releasing his flames more than usual to prevent him from being pulled into the black hole. Once he advanced further, Enma used his flames again to summon lots of boulders and had each of them to hit towards Tsuna.

It was a sudden attack and Tsuna often crashed against the boulders. I noticed that he was listening to something when he was attacked. An unknown shiny object was coming out from the crushed boulders and it was talking.

Could it be Enma's voice?

Tsuna managed to reach Enma and he tried to wake him up. Even his strongest punch did not work and he got hit by one of the largest boulder created by Enma. He did not dodge it and the largest boulder had one of Enma's most important consciousness.

_"I don't want to be alone..."_

"Can you hear me, Enma?!"

_"This voice..."_

"I'm here!! Here I am!!"

_"I know this voice...who is it...? My friend..."_

It took Enma some time to fully woke up and he recognised Tsuna. Moreover, he finally knew the whole truth about Vongola Primo and Cozart Shimon through the memories given by the Vindice. It felt like he was having a headache and had found out what he had done.

"Enma?! You're back to yourself, aren't you?!"

"I...I..."

"It's okay now. I came to save you."

"Tsuna...just like Vongola Primo, you didn't betray me..." 

Enma smiled with relief but soon faltered. Something was not right. 

"...it's no good..."

"Huh?"

"It's too late...I-I can't control...my power anymore..."

Before we knew it, the black hole slowly formed on Enma's chest and it constantly grew larger. He screamed with pain since he could not control the magnetism of the black hole on his chest. 

At any moment, he would be pulled into the black hole as well.

"It's a lie, right?!" Yamamoto asked with his tensed look.

"Enma fell into his black hole!!" added Gokudera.

"Run!! Run away!!" Enma yelled and he looked like he could not hold on much longer. "Its magnetism is just overwhelming!! Run for it!! Everyone is going to be killed!!"

"No!! I'm going to save you!! I'm going to do it!!" Tsuna shouted and he was not going to run away.

"What is Tsuna planning to do?!" Yamamoto asked loudly.

"I think...he wants to get rid of that black hole...!" I replied as we felt the air around us being sucked into the black hole.

"He's going to use the superpower of his big burn wave," Reborn added.

"If he needs some real power, then X-Burner is the only choice!" Gokudera gave his opinion but Reborn disagree with him.

"No, that's not quite going to cut it."

"What?!"

"We're going to need some kind of power that is much more than what's provided by the X-Burner."

I did think that the X-Burner was the only choice but the amount of flame where he used to defeat Byakuran in the last battle was not enough to destroy Enma's black hole. 

Tsuna was planning to use the X-Burner but he was he pointing both of his hands in front of Enma. That was not his usual X-Burner stance. Unless...

"Wait, that stance is different than the usual X-Burner stance!" Gokudera blinked.

"No way, he's going to fire from both hands!!" Yamamoto noticed as well.

"If he does that, he would be blasted backwards by the flame!"

"That's what the new parts on his Vongola gear are for. Take a look at Tsuna's arms," added Reborn.

We were looking attentively at Tsuna's Vongola gear and it looked like his arms were releasing soft flames as the support while his hands would release the hard flames to shoot straight at Enma's black hole. Once it was set, Tsuna finally launched his new X-Burner technique and the intensity of his flames was so strong that we had to hold still from where we stood.

The black hole was not to be able to take that large amount of Sky Flames and it was exploded. The skylark dragged me to his side and shielded me from the falling debris. I held Lambo at my arms tightly so that he would not get hurt.

It was too bright to see anything.

Did we manage to save Enma?


	38. confront

I felt like I had escaped from the building engulfed in flames and my eyes were still shut tightly until Hibari told me that Tsuna had made it. I slowly opened my eyes and all I saw was smokes floating around the air. Gokudera, Yamamoto and Reborn ran towards the brunette while Lambo leapt out from my arms, following them as well. Not long after that, Enma was coughing and I saw his hair was as messy as Tsuna's hair. 

I felt nothing but overly glad to see Enma's old self. Though he was feeling guilty about the bad things he had done on us, Tsuna never blamed him.

We had been walking into Daemon Spade's trap all along.

"Adel-san would be feeling happy to see Enma is back again," I smiled while looking at them.

"Which means, I don't have a chance to bite him to death," Hibari growled with annoyance.

"Come on, just for today, okay?"

I was waiting for him to answer and he looked away without saying anything. We both stood up and walked towards Tsuna and others before I heard Enma asking about the brunette's pride.

"To tell you the truth, from the time I got here until now, I had no idea what it was. I hadn't even thought about pride for a moment. I didn't even think that I was capable of having something amazing like that. But, Hibari-san taught me that pride is something that you can't ever surrender. If that's what pride is, then I can answer sincerely and confidently. My pride is my comrades, my friends."

It was obvious that Tsuna would answer about his pride. We went through many scary battles and experiences but because of our support, he became much stronger. All of us were very important to him. A flashback came into my head as I remembered his words while fighting against Byakuran.

_"The bitter things, the painful things, the fun things- It's because of everyone that I'm right here now. All the things that I've found since coming here. The skills, and weapons. None of it would have done any good if I'd been alone. It's because everyone was here that I was able to achieve them. Would you call that unlucky? I wouldn't."_

The future world incident had been over months ago and it was still fresh in my mind as if it had happened days ago.

Enma soon turned around and noticed my presence. He was surprised before I knelt to see if he was injured.

"You're here, [Name]? H-how did you escape-"

"I have my way to escape despite not knowing the exit of your secret base," I grinned at him.

"Wait, you're not telling me that you jumped out from-"

"I'm perfectly fine here!" I interrupted as I laughed, smacking his shoulder. "You don't have to worry already!"

"Well..." Emma smiled nervously before he looks at me with his guilt look. "I'm sorry, [Name]. I did not want to involve you in this fight but I was told to kill you off for being the witness of Yamamoto Takeshi's attacker. I ended up taking you as the hostage before we went to the Inheritance Ceremony."

"Why you don't want to kill me back then?"

"Because...you are the first person to treat me kindly ever since I lost my sister and my parents. I couldn't bring myself to kill you, so..."

I was speechless when I heard his explanation. He gave his best smile to me before he continued to talk.

"To be honest, your kind act gives me a chance to believe that Tsuna and Vongola Primo were not as bad as I thought. Thank you so much for helping me, [Name]."

"W-what??" I grew flustered and I shook my head. "I didn't do anything like that! I just wanted to help, that's all!"

He did not say further and he laughed lightly. Once Enma was safe, we teamed up to save Chrome and the Vindice arrived at the right time. 

We almost forgot that we were still in the battle and Tsuna told them that it was unnecessary because both he and Enma had no ill feelings towards each other. The Vindice refused to discontinue the battle as he said that this law had been set up by their ancestors and they had to proceed till the end. Afterwards, they presented the next key and another memory of the past had planted into their heads.

The clear pacifier was identical to Reborn and the other Arcobalenos' pacifiers. Why was it colourless and what did it have to do with the Vindice and the memories of the past? Reborn was looking quite uneasy when that pacifier appeared at the Vindice's hand.

Tsuna and others mentioned that it was a memory of Vongola Primo and Cozart Shimon had pledged that the Vongola and Shimon will be supporting each other till the end. The witness was one of the Vindice guard and an unknown Arcobaleno. They were shocked by that unknown Arcobaleno's appearance and Reborn demanded an answer from them. The Vindice did not answer, saying that they had no reason to tell him further.

A calm and professional hitman like Reborn, this was the first time I saw him felt so bothered about it.

As Enma was the boss of Shimon Famiglia, the Vindice made an exception for him to stay and watched his last guardian's battle before he was taken away to the prison. We assumed that Chrome could have been fighting against Katou Julie or Daemon Spade and we ran out from the castle to look for her.

We were climbing at the stairs that led to a large dome building. It was badly damaged, were they fighting rather viciously? I quickened my pace and reaching up at the entrance only to see that Mukuro was still standing, while Katou Julie was found unconscious on the ground. Oddly enough, I could not feel Daemon Spade's presence. We could not believe that Mukuro had managed to defeat his equal opponent. I sighed with relief but the skylark threw across his metal tonfa at Mukuro, in which he managed to block it with his trident.

"I was considering biting you to death, but now that you've expended all that energy fighting, it wouldn't even be a challenge."

"Hibari-san! Is there no one he doesn't pick a fight with?!" Tsuna exclaimed but Mukuro just let out a light chuckle.

"Hibari Kyoya, I'll be your opponent at any time you like."

"Your reaction time is down. If we fight now, it wouldn't be fun."

"I understand what you're saying. In that case, I'll accept your offer and take some time to rest," Mukuro stated and he turned to look at Tsuna. "Until the day comes when I take your body, I leave Chrome to you, Sawada Tsunayoshi."

"What? You're still saying that?"

Mukuro was giving his last smile at me before he fell onto the ground. At the same time, he was already switched with Chrome, so Reborn kicked Tsuna to the front where Chrome would collapse onto him instead. 

She soon woke up with her most puzzled look and wondering what had happened. Tsuna went on to explain that Mukuro had taken over her and defeated Daemon Spade without getting himself hurt. She smiled with relief and we were glad that everything was over.

Somehow, we could not feel that it was over. 

Chrome's pet owl suddenly talked by itself. When I stared at the mist owl, I noticed that its eyes were having two different colours. 

No way, that was Mukuro's eyes. Why he was possessing the owl at this time?

"Big brother, is that you?"

"What are you talking about, woman?" Gokudera asked with confusion, but Tsuna and Hibari knew what I meant. It was indeed him inside that mist owl.

"A lot of power had been used in that last battle. For now, it's taking all my strength just to possess Mukurowl."

"Mukuro, what's going on?" Tsuna asked with worry.

"There's trouble. My body is still in the Vindice's prison but my soul can't return to it."

"What do you mean, Mukuro?" it was Reborn's turn to ask him.

"Right when I was on the verge of returning to my body, I was blocked."

"No way!" Tsuna exclaimed with shock.

Before we ever had time to react, we heard a mumbling voice behind us and we saw Katou Julie had woken up. Gokudera, Yamamoto and Tsuna were thinking that Daemon Spade was still inside him but Mukuro and Chrome denied their statement. 

Daemon's presence was no longer at there and that means Katou Julie was finally free from his spell. Enma did ask him if he remembered anything but Julie said that he had been sleeping for a long time, unable to recollect any memories of what Daemon had done. Reborn even mentioned that the Vindice still did not appear after the last battle ended. We began to feel uneasy and Mukuro could figure out one possibly of why these things happened.

When Mukuro's soul was possessing Chrome, his body became an empty vessel and Daemon Spade intentionally lose to him so that he could enter it by chance.

It was our first time we heard that an illusionist had their body stolen by another illusionist while possessing someone. According to Mukuro, it was a very difficult technique to master and one must be powerful enough to do so. Chrome instantly remembered that Daemon was waiting for the perfect time to master this technique. In other words, the awakening of Shimon Rings had helped to make him stronger.

"But, Daemon is inside Mukuro's body. That means he's inside the Vindice's Prison right now. He won't be able to do anything there, so what is he planning?"

I was hoping to agree with Yamamoto until the Vindice appeared in front of us. Instead of taking Julie and Enma for losing in the battle, they announced an emergency that was happening in the prison. 

Mukuro's possessed body had gone berserk and destroying their prison. The Vindice could have been able to stop him but they wanted the Vongola Famiglia to handle him instead, stating that Daemon Spade was still a part of Vongola. 

Tsuna was ready to face the crisis and he set up with a condition.

"Now that this is the case, the battle between the Vongola and the Shimon is negated! Please release every one of the Vongola and the Shimon from your prison!

The dome was engulfed with silence. We did not expect that Tsuna would come up with that condition. The Vindice was quiet as well before they asked Enma's opinion.

"And what about you, Kozato Enma?"

"I want the same thing!" the red-head answered with the determined look, same as Tsuna.

"Very well. If you defeat Daemon Spade, I will release your family members from our prison."

"Tenth, we can't trust these guys!" Gokudera retorted and one of the Vindice guards revealed his partial identity to all of us. He was the one who witnessed the oath made by Vongola Primo and Cozart Shimon in the past.

"We will keep our promise."

After confirming the conditions with the Vindice, Daemon Spade arrived in his unusual way. His arrival caused the whole dome to explode into pieces as if a meteor had crashed onto it. It was lucky that Gokudera and Yamamoto protecting us with their weapons though they admitted that the explosion earlier had wiped out their flames partially. Black flames appeared right in front of our eyes and someone was coming out within those flames.

Daemon Spade, with Mukuro's body he had just acquired, made his appearance and smirking slyly at us.

Because of his long hair, I might never get to see Mukuro in the same way again.

Tsuna and others were ready to attack him but Chrome immediately stopped them, begging not to hurt Mukuro's body. Mukuro pecked her head and he told Tsuna to forget about his body and continue with the plan to defeat that monstrous Daemon. 

We did not have a chance to start our first move because Daemon suddenly appeared in front of us with a joker card at his hand. The joker was holding a lit-up bomb and it was about to explode.

Gokudera and Yamamoto pushed Tsuna and Chrome away while Julie did the same to Enma. Once the explosion occurred, Chrome tried to pull me away when I felt a tight grip on my wrist. 

That hand did not look like Hibari's hand and my face went pale to see Daemon in front of me. 

"I finally caught you, [Name]~"

"P-please, don't hurt me..."

"That will be the last thing I would do to you."

A shape of a spade appeared on his right eye and I was staring at it. My head was dizzy and I felt like I was having a bad headache.

"You do not need to get involved. Just go to sleep until everything is over."

I could hear someone else calling out for me but I could not do anything. I ended up following his words as Chrome did. 

I nodded my head once. He gently touched my head and helped me to lay on the ground. 

"That's a good girl."

All I knew that I fell in a deep sleep. 


	39. forgive

I was asleep for quite some time. I did not see anything or any of my strange dreams. I was not able to open my eyes and all I wanted was to help Tsuna and others to defeat Daemon Spade.

He would not allow me to do so. He was locking my mind away from them just to make sure that I would not get hurt again.

He wanted to kill me and yet, he was protecting me. What was he thinking?

If only I could break his mind control. I need to wake up fast before he tried to hurt Tsuna and others.

Or else, I-

"Nice weather here, right?"

I blinked with surprise when I heard someone's voice in the dark. A strong gust of wind nearly blew me away from where I stood and once I opened my eyes, I found myself standing in a large garden. 

I was completely confused as I thought this would be one of Daemon's tricks. I rubbed my eyes several times to make sure that I was not dreaming. I still could hear birds chirping around and I opened my eyes again to see that I was in the same garden. I slowly turned around and there was a large mansion, located just a few metres from the garden. 

I felt strangely calm as if there was no absolute disturbance happening in the garden. Worries began to wash away from my thoughts and it made me wanted to stay here longer. 

"Why are you still standing there, dear? Come over here and have some tea."

I flinched, nearly forgetting about the voice I heard earlier. I quickly turned around and I saw a beautiful woman sitting at the tea-table. Her long blonde hair matched her sparkling large eyes and her radiant smile. 

She was inviting me for a tea break but I was trying to not embarrassing myself. What if she called out for someone else to join her instead of me? My eyes tried to look around and I was the only one standing in the garden. 

I could not believe that Daemon's illusion would be this real. Or did he ever do it?

I gulped nervously as I took some few steps forward to the tea table. I pulled out the chair and I sat down without even looking at the woman. I knew it was rude to do so but I was extremely nervous. Her appearance looked like she was a princess from an ancient kingdom. 

"What's wrong? Are you sick?"

She spoke again and she seemed worried. My face grew redder and I lowered my head. I had to say something. Anything but not at a point of embarrassing myself. 

"S-sorry...I...I'm not m-much of a talker..." I muttered. "I'm uncomfortable when I-I'm in front of someone I don't know..."

She did not say anything for a few seconds. Then, she suddenly laughed lightly at my reaction. I want to run away from the table right now. 

"Oh my, you act so much like her!"

"H-huh??"

"Sorry, please forgive me," she tried to stop laughing and she was smiling at me. "You look so much like her. The way you speak and the way you react to strangers- not forgetting your politeness."

"Uh...what exactly is happening, miss-"

"My name is Elena," she interrupted and she placed a cup of tea in front of me. "Pleased to meet you."

"E-Elena?" I repeated and the moment I recognised the woman, my head jerked up in sudden and my finger pointed at her with shock. "You are Daemon Spade's lover, right??"

She flinched and her face grew redder, nearly dropping the teapot she was holding. 

"O-oh my, why do you have to say so loud?" she grinned shyly. "I mean, he is indeed my lover..."

"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to make you feel like that!" I quickly apologised. "I just can't help it when I know who you are..."

"It is fine. I assumed that you have met him. May I know how he has been doing?"

Her question made me feel quite uneasy. Should I tell her what he had done to Tsuna and Enma? If I told her, she would be sad. But she had the right to know. 

I spent some time telling Elena about Daemon's plans and she had not been interrupting or talking. She had b listening all the time until I was done explaining. 

"I see. He still blames himself for my death."

"Elena-san?"

"I did not blame him and Giotto. A rival famiglia took advantage of Giotto's decision to disband the Vongola's military forces and launched an attack. I was killed in the crossfire. Daemon blamed himself for not being able to protect me and not trying hard to make Giotto rethink of his decision."

She sighed and there was a pained look on her face.

"I trust that Daemon could protect the weak with the Vongola but it seems that my death had pushed him to do something that is against the Vongola's true purpose. If I was not killed back then, maybe he would not be someone you are seeing now."

"...Elena-san, this was no one's fault at all."

"Huh?"

"No one was expecting this to happen. Things could get worse if you're not killed during the attack. Vongola Primo made that decision because that was not the Vongola he wanted to see. And Daemon, I could not agree with all the things he had done to my friends. It was the guilt that pushed him to be a bad person."

"How can you tell that?"

"He could have killed me after I knew he was possessing Katou Julie but when I was about to do something stupid, he begged me not to do it. He says...someone will not forgive him if anything bad happens to me."

Elena's eyes widened with surprise when she heard the sentences. 

"I think I know why."

"You know?"

"Daemon once made a promise that he will never hurt her. If he did, there will be someone who will not forgive him."

"Who's not going to forgive Daemon?"

"Alaude."

"W-what? Vongola Primo's Cloud guardian??"

"Exactly. Did I just mention that you act so much like her? She's my childhood friend and apparently, she's married to Alaude."

It was so hard to swallow everything I heard. I could only conclude the real reason why I had been dreaming about that Cloud guardian.

"For all this time, I had been his wife...in my previous life??"

"What makes you think of that possibility?"

"I don't know. I did think of that once but I would not dare to confirm that I was married to him in my previous life. My brother told me that these dreams I had could be hiding some sort of an important clue," I sighed. "I haven't told anyone about it until I was ready." 

"Well, have you ever met Alaude? Like in a form of spirit?"

"I did, but..."

"But what?"

"I only saw him once during the intense battle between Tsuna and Byakuran but we never spoke to each other. Though he once saved my life."

"He saved your life?"

"Yeah," I smiled a little. "If it wasn't because of him, I would have been in danger. I wished that I could meet him so that I could thank him."

"You will get to meet him."

"Really?"

"He must be desperate enough to tell you something important, so I can tell that he will come to you someday."

"I hope so."

We talked quite a long time and I felt something was off. Elena felt it as well and she took another sip of tea before she spoke to me. 

"May I ask you for a favour, dear?"

"Huh? What can I do for you, Elena-san?"

"It is simple favour," she smiled warmly. "Could you please tell Daemon that it is time for a tea break? I already made some of his favourite desserts."

I shot an uncomfortable look to her and my smile was twitching. 

"You...you want me to tell him?"

"I am sure that he is done with his work," she pouted with sadness. "If you do not want to do it, I understand-"

"Wait! It's okay!" I waved my hands quickly. "I'll tell him right away!"

"Thank you so much, dear!" she clapped her hands happily. "If we meet again next time, I'll bake some croissants for you~"

"Thank you so much-" I stopped for a second and I looked at her with a surprised look. "Elena-san, how did you know that I love to eat croissant?"

Elena smiled and she looked like she was about to cry. 

"It was her favourite food."

"Her...favourite food?"

She nodded and she wiped off the tears from her eyes. 

"I want to thank you for coming here, [Full Name]. I have never been so happy to see my childhood friend again. Even after she has been reincarnated, she is still the same person. It feels like I am talking to her just like the old times." 

"Elena-san-!"

"Till we meet again. Be sure to tell Daemon, I'll be waiting for him."

I wanted to call for her again when I heard a loud crashing sound. The surroundings were breaking apart like a broken mirror and I shut both of my eyes tightly. 

It went quiet. Way too quiet. I would not dare to move in a silent space. 

After a few minutes had passed, I heard someone was sobbing bitterly. 

My eyes opened slowly and Daemon Spade was kneeling in front of me. He was crying and he was in a terrible mess. He was heavily injured. Did Tsuna and others finally defeat him for good?

"I...I'm so sorry..."

"W-why would you-"

"I made a word that I will never hurt you..." he explained. "And yet, I did..."

"But I'm not her, so why would you want to apologise to me-"

"A promise is a promise! Even if you have been reincarnated!"

He looked up at me and he gritted his teeth, feeling angry with himself.

"The moment you scream, I immediately saw her face. She was in pain and my hand is hurting her. How can I ever forgive myself after what I have done?"

"Daemon..."

"If you want to slap me, or even punching me, please do it. I won't attack you."

He was still kneeling and he would not move away. He was waiting for me to beat him. 

Because of him, Enma and his friends suffered a lot. Yamamoto was severely injured. He even broke Tsuna's mind and nearly killed him. Slapping him was not enough. Stabbing him should do it.

I could not think of hurting him. I just could not do it. 

"You fool..."

"What?"

"Do you think that beating you into a bloody pulp makes me feel a lot better?? It makes me feel even worse as a human being!"

"Even after...what I have done?"

"I really could not forgive you but...you used to be a good person in my previous life. I still remember your joyful look when you laughed. It was the guilt that makes you a bad person."

His eyes widened after hearing my words. He could not hold back his tears and he cried. My gaze softened and I knelt to give him a tight hug. 

"Elena is waiting for you, Daemon. You are going to regret it if you miss a tea break with her."

"She's...waiting...for me?"

"Yes, she is. You're doing a great job, so it's time for you to rest." I grinned widely. "And I forgive you."

The guilt that engulfed his heart had vanished and he hugged me back as tightly as he could. I let him cry as loud as he wanted to. He lived for a long time and he finally could get to sleep. 

"You never change. You are still the same after all."

Daemon slowly stood up and rubbed his swollen eyes. 

"This is embarrassing. Elena will surely laugh at me if she knows I'm crying."

"I don't know about it," I shrugged my shoulders. "You better hurry or you will miss it."

"I'll go but first, I need to give you something."

"What is it?"

Daemon took my hand and he gave me an old gold pocket watch. It was quite heavy when I hold it and there was a Vongola crest on its cover. 

"Gold pocket watch? Is this yours?"

"No, I would want to keep mine. This pocket watch once belonged to Alaude."

"His pocket watch? Why would you want to give it to me??"

"Well, he said that he doesn't want to keep it. It brings nothing but a pain if he still has it. I had the feeling that I should let you keep it."

I grew more confused and he only gave a light laugh.

"You'll understand someday. Now, time for me to leave. Thank you so much, [Full Name]."

I watched him fading away in front of my eyes. The crisis between the Vongola and the Shimon was finally over and it took me some time to wake up in the real world. 

Hibari had been at my side while Tsuna and others were smiling with relief to see me regaining my consciousness. I smiled weakly at them and I was glad to see them safe. We might share what we had seen after we returned to Namimori.

The dream I had was not an ordinary dream. The gold pocket watch was safely placed in my skirt pocket. 


	40. aftermath

The morning sky was still dark. I woke up earlier than usual because I could not sleep well. It was already a week after our encounter with Daemon Spade and I could not forget about the old pocket watch he gave me.

I was at my study table and I was looking at the pocket watch attentively. Daemon told me that Vongola Primo had requested a craftsman named Talbot to make seven golden pocket watches for his guardians including himself as a proof of friendship. I assumed that the pocket watches given by Vongola Primo were important to them since Daemon had been keeping his own for a long time.

But why Alaude did not want to keep it? Was it because he did not regard his boss and the guardians as his friends?

_"He said that he doesn't want to keep it. It brings nothing but a pain if he still has it."_

What kind of pain that Daemon was trying to say? I could not ask more from him after he was defeated by Tsuna and joined Elena in the afterlife world.

As much I wanted to bring it along with me, I was afraid that the Disciplinary Committee members would confiscate it especially Hibari. He would probably ask where did I get that pocket watch. Since it was made with gold, someone else might steal it.

"[Name]! Someone is waiting for you!"

My mother called out and I hastily placing the pocket watch in my drawer. I took my school bag with me and I leave my room. My mother was smiling at me while she was standing nearby the door.

"Mum, who's waiting for me?"

"Well, you should have known better."

I was looking at the clock and it was nearly seven in the morning. Hibari told me that I would not need to go to his house as his grandfather was away for urgent business. But still, the students had to be early for personal belongings check. I went down the stairs and I knew what my mother was talking about.

The same motorcycle was parked near my apartment.

"Kyoya, what are you doing here at this hour?" I asked curiously.

"What else?" Hibari spoke and passed a helmet to me. "I'm fetching you to school."

"But it's still early," I blinked and I was looking at my watch. "Unless you're taking me back to your house-"

He flicked his finger across my forehead in sudden and I flinched.

"Even if there's no one in my house, I still won't allow you to work until you fully recovered. Now hurry up before we're late to school."

I had the feeling that he had something important to do and I did not want to keep him waiting. I put on the helmet and climbed on his motorcycle before we went to school. 

A few students who were coming to school earlier noticed that I was on a motorcycle with Hibari and they were in shock. Why would a student like me end up sticking with the Head of Disciplinary Committee? They would think that I broke the school rules and I needed to be punished.

Only Tsuna and others knew the exact truth.

We arrived at the school and I climbed down from the motorcycle, giving back the helmet to him. 

"You're not coming to school? I thought we are going to have personal belongings check."

"It's cancelled. I already told the Head of Liquidation Committee about it. She will take care of the school for temporary while I'm away for business."

"Business? That's rare for you to leave school like that," I blinked and I stared at Hibari curiously. "You are not going to do something stupid, right?"

"Why?" he smirked. "Are you attempting to stop me, herbivore?"

"Look, if you did, I would do anything to stop you."

"I'm going to Kokuyo Land. I want to deal with Rokudo Mukuro."

"What? Mukuro is here? I thought he's still in the prison."

"He had done big favour while defeating Daemon Spade, so the prison guards decided to free him. Once I'm done with him, you can see him if you want to."

"O-of course I want, but...can I ask you something before you go?"

"What is it?"

"Well, you know that Yamamoto and I are friends. I still need to ask you if I could go out with him for lunch."

He narrowed his eyes a little and I gave a light sigh.

"We're just friends. I wanted to at least thank him for saving my life during the rehearsal skit months ago. At least I allow you to fight with Mukuro, right?"

"Alright, you can go out with him," he said and restarting the motorcycle engine. "Just make sure that he accompany you home or I'll bite him to death."

"Thanks," I grinned. "I'll tell him."

We were looking at each other for a while before he sped off to Kokuyo Land to meet Rokudo Mukuro. I watched him disappeared and I turned away to head back to school only to see that Adelheid was standing nearby the school gate. She gave a small smile, something that ever rarely appear on her face.

"Looks like both of you are in good terms."

"I guess so," I smiled to her. "I am glad that everything is over." 

"I could tell that he cares about you. It was obvious when he found out that we took you as our hostage after Kaoru attacked Yamamoto Takeshi."

"Really? I mean, we didn't talk for days during that incident."

"[Name], I'm sorry for all the mess we made. We even think of killing you off for knowing Yamamoto's attacker. Enma could not do it, especially when you reminded him of his little sister."

"It's alright, no point of bringing that up. Did you say that Enma had a little sister?"

"Yes, but she along with their parents were killed by Daemon Spade who disguised as Vongola Decimo's father, Sawada Iemitsu. That b*st*rd also killed Iemitsu's subordinates under the disguise as Enma's father. This was his way to deepen the grudge between the Vongola and the Shimon."

"I can't believe he would do anything to make everyone fear of the name Vongola," I muttered.

"Hm? Did you say something?"

"N-nothing, looks like you are in charge to take care of this school."

"Yeah, I already caught three troublemakers in the school though."

"Huh? You did?"

"Sasagawa Ryohei and Aoba Koyo were punished for destroying the school properties. Katou Julie was punished for flirting with other girls. I hung three of them at the back of the school."

"W...wow..." I laughed nervously. "I don't know who's scarier. Either you or Kyoya..."

"You should head back to the class before the lesson starts. I'm going to see who else is about breaking the school rules."

"Okay," I walked away and I turned to look at her. "We should hang out sometime, Adel-san!"

She waved back and she soon proceeded to catch Tsuna and Enma for coming late to school. I saw Yamamoto having his baseball training with Kaoru and his teammates. 

I planned to tell him once he returned to the classroom. 

* * *

Sato-san already returned from his business trip and he was currently resting in his room. I did brew some tea for him to drink before I start to clean the house. I was almost done with everything and all I needed to was to wipe the photo frames on the table.

I happened to see a photo of Hibari with his parents when he was young. His father had the exact copy of his son's looks except that he had a kind look. He was also pale as if he was suffering from a certain illness. 

Beside him was his wife. She had long dark brown hair and had a darker shade of grey eyes. She was also wearing the violet yukata that Sato-san had given to me last summer. 

Senior Kusakabe once told me that his parents died when he was young but according to Sato-san, his mother was found missing. 

It was the secret that he kept it from Hibari.

_"I want you to promise me that you will not tell this to Kyoya."_

_"Uh...why? He has the right to know about his mother, right?"_

_"It's...complicated."_

_"Complicated?"_

_"My son first met this girl named Miho when he was studying at a university after he graduated from high school. It happened when she wanted to borrow some notes from him as she was already missed the first lesson due to her private reasons. So he did and later had been helping her with some other courses she could not understand. After spending years studying, he confessed his feelings towards Miho and she did the same. I did not know that they had been together until the day he asked for my permission to marry Miho."_

_"Did you let them marry, Sato-san?"_

_"To be honest, I was against their marriage."_

_"W-what? Why are you against it?"_

_"Few reasons. One, my son is from a family that she should not get involved with. Second, he was suffering from a long term illness. Also, I already arranged for my son to marry a girl from another family. I do not wish for Miho to choose the bad end of her life if she marries my son."_

_"But it seems that they managed to get married?"_

_"My son and I had a huge row and he left the house, never returned ever since. Other members of the clan had been insisting me to choose a new successor after my son left but I did not do it. I even ordered some of my people to search for him and Miho for years. Until one day, Miho came to my house with her son, Kyoya."_

_"Wait, does that mean...?"_

_"Miho's eyes were swollen when she appeared with her sleeping son. I invited them in and we had a private talk. She told me that my son died a week ago and she came here after his funeral. It took her a long time to think and she decided to let Kyoya stay in Hibari Clan."_

_"So she left Hibari-san?"_

_"She felt guilty. She blamed herself for breaking the ties between me and my son. She also felt even more guilty when she heard that I did not have a true successor for my clan. She wanted to fix it, so she decided to return what I have lost."_

_"And you lied to him that his mother died?"_

_"I do not want to say this. But Miho insisted me to do it. She said if he ever asked where is his mother, I must tell him that she died in an accident. After leaving Kyoya at my house, she was never seen again."_

I felt that he had changed after his mother left him. If he knew the truth, what would Hibari do? Would he go around to search for his missing mother?

* * *

"Hey, [Name]!"

Kyoko called out for me and she had an excited look on her face. I curiously looked at her before asking.

"What is it, Kyoko?"

"The new transfer student! Don't you see? It's Chrome!"

"What? Chrome?? Why is she here??"

"I'm not sure but I'm happy to see her here!" Kyoko answered as she stood up to see a new transfer student. 

Chrome was standing in front of the class and she was seen wearing the Namimori Middle uniform instead of Kokuyo Middle uniform. Tsuna, Gokudera, Yamamoto and Enma were in shock to see her in our class.

She started to cry and ran towards Kyoko, sobbing silently. I grew worried as I stood up and asked for permission to go to the infirmary with Kyoko and Chrome. The three of us went out and I politely told Kyoko to grab some drinks for Chrome. 

"H-hey, Chrome? What exactly happened here?"

She did not talk while she was still crying. I took out a tissue to wipe off her tears gently. 

"Chrome, please tell me. If you don't, I won't be able to help you."

She sniffled and she slowly lifted her head to look at me.

"Mukuro kicked me out from the Kokuyo Land. He no longer needs me."


	41. trauma

As much I wanted more answers from Chrome, she seemed to have difficulty to explain her whole situation. All I knew that Mukuro already kicked her out from Kokuyo Land, leaving only a Namimori Middle school uniform and living expenses. I heard from Reborn that he and his friends were away to France to look for Fran. 

Kyoko and Haru decided to let Chrome stay at their houses for temporary while I talked with the apartment's manager to find for an empty room for her. The girls later wanted to go to Tsuna's house to do a welcoming party for Chrome. Emma and his friends were invited and Kyoko strongly stated that I should come before I could start my work at Hibari's house.

I soon agreed to join. After all, I thought of asking Reborn about the gold pocket watch I received from Daemon Spade.

He was hosting a mimicry contest and mentioned that the loser will be Chrome's errand boy for a week. Some tried their best and I did not know if I should laugh at their attempt. Chrome seemed enjoyed, forgetting about what she had gone through.

"You wanted to ask me something, [Name]?"

"Y-yeah, is it true that Mukuro kicked Chrome out from Kokuyo Land? Is it because he no longer uses her as his vessel?"

"If it is true, then why would you ask?"

"I don't think he would do that to Chrome. He valued her just like he valued his friends."

"You know him better than anyone, [Name]," Reborn smiled. "He did that because he wants to give her some space and time to reconsider her choice."

"Her choice?"

"She began to contemplate her existence as a separate person from Mukuro, resulting in an internal conflict with herself. This happened after the Vindice guards released Mukuro from the prison."

"Is that why Mukuro send her to Namimori Middle?"

"He does have reason to send her to Namimori Middle. Just give her a little support for her to make the right choice."

I nodded my head and I was ready to ask him another thing. For an odd reason, I could not tell him about the pocket watch.

"Anything you want to ask, [Name]?"

"Nothing. Thank you for telling me about Chrome," I stood up and picked up my school bag. "I need to go to work now before Kyoya starts to question me."

"Don't you need someone else to accompany you?"

"I don't think it's necessary. I'm only on my way to his house."

Reborn was not convinced and he turned to look at the brunette who was busy taking care of crying Lambo.

"Oi, Tsuna!"

"W-what is it?? I'm busy here!"

"You can leave that stupid cow with Kyoko and Haru for a while. You need to accompany [Name] to Hibari's house."

"Huh?" he came to us with his confused look. "Why all of a sudden I need to follow her to his house?"

"Just do it. This is your first job as Chrome's errand boy."

"How is this supposed to be my first job??"

"Don't let me start kicking you around, Tsuna," Reborn threatened the brunette. "Or do you want me to shoot you?"

Tsuna gulped nervously and later leaving the house with me. I felt sorry for him. Having a merciless tutor to train him as the new mafia boss. 

"I'm sorry for troubling you. I told Reborn that I could go on my own though."

"No, it's fine," he laughed lightly. "Come to think of it, it's dangerous for a girl to walk alone at the street."

"Don't underestimate me," I pouted. "I still can fight as I did in the future world."

"I-I didn't underestimate you!" he explained quickly. "I just think that it's better to walk with someone else!"

"I understand. At least I have someone to talk to," I sighed. "I did want to ask Reborn something important but I could not bring myself to do it. I don't know why."

"What do you want to ask him?"

"Daemon Spade gave me an old pocket watch belonged to the First Cloud."

"He did what??" Tsuna asked with his shocked look. "He gave you the First Cloud's gold pocket watch??"

"Eh? How you know it was made of gold?"

"I picked up Daemon's pocket watch after I defeated him and I saw a picture of the first generation members along with his lover. But how come he gave you someone else's pocket watch?"

"I...I don't know. He said that I should keep it. Until now, I could not open to see what's inside."

"Is that so? Maybe this might have to do with your strange dreams you've mentioned before. Did you manage to figure out the whole puzzle?"

I was about to answer when I felt a little uneasy. Tsuna was quiet as well. He seemed to know what I was feeling. I was being followed again. 

"[Name]?" the brunette whispered but he was not looking at me.

"Yes, Tsuna?"

"You feel like you're being followed, right?"

"H...how did you know?" I replied but I did not turn to look at him.

"I could feel it too. We need to go somewhere else."

"But I'm late for work-"

He took my hand quickly and he suddenly smiled brightly to me. Was he coming up with a plan to escape from the stalkers?

"I almost forgot. I already made a promise to Lambo and I-Pin that I would take them to the amusement park. Would it be alright if you could follow me to buy some tickets?"

"W-what? Right now??"

"Yeah, we need to go now before the tickets sold out."

He simply dragged me along and I had to catch up with him. I glanced behind a little and two people were trying to follow both of us. Were they the same person who tried to catch me back then?

We went to the amusement park entrance and instead of going to the ticket counter, he brought me to the haunted castle. I had to admit that it was a good idea to make those stalkers lose their way but I hated it when I had to face the monsters and ghosts in the castle.

Even if they were fake.

"Tsuna, I think we can leave now. No one is following us-"

I blinked when I noticed that he had stopped walking. His hand was trembling and there was a fear look on his face.

"Tsuna, are you alright?"

"I...I don't know the way out of here..."

"What? It's just a haunted castle."

"True, but...the ghosts and monsters here are scary..."

I went speechless for a few seconds and I nearly burst out laughing. Tsuna's face turned red with embarrassment and he felt like he wanted to hide somewhere else.

"I know! You can laugh at me if you want! I am scared of ghosts and monsters! I even scared of Mukuro's illusions when I first met him!"

"S-sorry..." I tried to stop laughing. "Oh God, how rude I am..."

"I'm so glad that Reborn is not here. I had enough when he made me went through the test of courage in the graveyard."

"He did??"

"Yeah, Bianchi's scary make up still haunts my mind until now."

"Okay, I'll lead the way. Just follow me from behind. I think those stalkers will not be able to find us here."

The brunette nodded and we continued to walk through the way out from the haunted castle. Some people disguising as ghosts were making scary sounds and they even banging the walls. Tsuna had been flinching and he tried not to look at them. I snickered as I look at his reaction.

We were almost at the exit when someone dressed up as a mad scientist gave us a huge jumpscare. The brunette was screaming but I was petrified. My eyes widened with fear when a flashback of my memory came across my mind.

One of the Estraneo's researchers came to me with a scalpel at his hand. He was wearing a surgical mask but I could tell that he was giving a wicked smile.

_"How about stop running around and be a good girl? This pain will last for a while..."_

I could not move. I wanted to scream. I wanted to call for big brother's help. Both of my knees fell on the ground and my hands were on my head, shaking with fear.

"[Name]! Are you okay?!"

"...K-Kyoya...big brother...h-help..."

"Don't cry! I'll bring you to Hibari's house! Just hang on!"

Tsuna did not hesitate further and he carried me to the skylark's house. It took some time for him to reach his house and Hibari had been standing at the door with his annoyed look. He nearly wanted to bite Tsuna to death until he saw my condition.

"What happened to [Name], herbivore?"

"She's in a state of shock after we got scared by a mad scientist in the haunted castle..." Tsuna panted as he talked, placing me down to stand on my own. "I tried to wake her up but she's traumatized. I thought of trying to contact Mukuro to tell him about [Name]'s condition-"

"I'll tell him later," Hibari interrupted and he brought me to his house. "Why both of you are in the amusement park in the first place?"

"We were being followed. I want to make sure that she is safe, so I bring her along to make them lose track of us before coming to your house."

"I see. You may dismiss, I'll take care of her."

Tsuna nodded and he glanced at me before he left the house. I missed the chance to thank him and I was still shaken from the flashback. 

Before the skylark could ask, I went unconscious and I could not recall how long I had been sleeping after that. 

* * *

_"Don't you think you're pretty lucky?"_

I heard a conversation in a small church and I saw two men at the table. One of them was a priest and another one was wearing a black trench coat. I recognised both of them. They were Vongola Primo's guardians.

_"What do you mean I'm lucky?"_

_"You have two most beautiful women in your life. One, your mother. Another one, your future wife."_

The First Cloud picked up a book and smacked across the First Sun's head, feeling annoyed. 

_"You're trying to make fun of me, right?"_

_"I'm speaking the truth,"_ the priest rubbed his head. _"And don't use the Bible to smack my head!"_

 _"Does this look like a Bible to you?"_ the other glared and he held out his notebook. 

_"You're still working on other cases when you are about to get married?"_

_"I only sleep when I'm tired-"_

The priest took his notebook away from the other's hand and he gave his disapproved look. 

_"I rarely saw your father but I am sure that you have his stubbornness. You are supposed to rest before your special day."_

_"Give back my notebook."_

_"I'm not giving it back until you agreed to take a few days rest."_

_"What if I don't?"_

_"Don't you know how important is your wedding? You risked everything to save her life and you dare to look tired in front of your future wife?"_

The other was silent and he was still staring at the priest.

_"You weren't yourself when you heard that she was going to marry that madman. We were highly surprised that Daemon managed to bring you back to see Philippe. For all this time, you always win when both of you fought each other."_

_"Mind you not to remind me about that?"_

_"Wow, I did not know that you feel insulted after losing to Daemon,"_ the priest placed the notebook on the table. _"Just leave your job to someone else and focus on your wedding day. Almost everyone is waiting to see both of you marry in this church."_

_"...fine. I'll rest."_

_"Finally!"_ the priest gave a loud sigh. _"Take me lots of effort for me to tell you to rest!"_

_"What do you mean by that?"_

_"Nothing- Oh, look who's behind you."_

He was looking at me with a wide smile and the other did turn around to see me. I tried to walk towards them and I lost my footing in sudden. 

"Careful!"

My eyes wide open and I realised I was dreaming. Hibari caught me from falling over with his arm and I turned to look at him. We were sitting on the couch and it was already night time. 

"Did...did I pass out?"

"You did. If I didn't catch you in time, you would get hit on the table."

"S-sorry, I'm having...a strange dream."

"Strange dream? Is it about your dark past?"

"No...not that."

"Then, what is it?"

"...the memories of my previous life."


	42. surrender

I told Hibari everything about my strange dreams. My previous life with Vongola Primo's Cloud guardian and my future self investigating about the train accident in the past. I even took out the gold pocket watch to prove that I was telling the truth. He had been listening and he did not interrupt. I was afraid that he would not believe what I was trying to say.

Would he think that I was being sketchy?

"Why you didn't tell me about this, [Name]?"

"I-I want to tell you but it's hard for me to do so. I mean, telling you that I have my previous life's memories, don't you think it sounds ridiculous??"

"That gold pocket watch is proof. If Daemon Spade didn't give it to you, then I find it hard to believe."

I went quiet for a while and I stared at the pocket watch.

"When did you start to have this kind of dream?"

"I'm not sure. I feel like ever since the Ring Conflict."

"Ring Conflict?"

"When someone wanted me to pass the Cloud ring to you, I accidentally touched it and I heard a faint voice. After that, I started to see these strange dreams and until now, I could not figure out the mystery behind these dreams."

"So, you could not open that pocket watch?"

"I can't open it. I tried but failed."

"Let me try."

I passed the pocket watch to him and I waited for him to open. Once I gave it to him, his expression changed in sudden. He looked like he realised something was off.

"I thought I gave it to him," Hibari muttered.

"What? You gave it to someone?"

He blinked his eyes as if he had been dreaming seconds ago. 

"What are you talking about?"

"Huh? You said you gave it to someone. Did you forget?"

"I didn't say anything like that."

"But you- never mind," I took the pocket watch from his hand and I kept it inside my bag. "I need to return home now before my parents started to look for me."

"No, you stay here for tonight."

"Stay here?? Why is that so?"

"That herbivore told me that you've been followed earlier. Walking home at night is not safe."

"I-I think they are not around at this late-night..." I tried to stand up from the couch. "And my home is just nearby, so I'll be fine-"

He quickly pulled my hand and his sudden action caused me to fall back on the couch. I looked up at him and I grew nervous. A smirk was formed at his face and he leaned to kiss on my forehead. My face turned red and he whispered at my ear. 

"I will bite you to death if you dare to disobey my orders."

I could not say anything. His words were quite threatening and I slowly nodded my head. 

"This is for your safety. I'll go and inform your parents."

He gently touched my head and he stood up, walking out from the living hall. I sat up and I placed both of my hands at my reddened cheeks. 

I heard my phone ringing and I answered the call.

"H-hello...?"

"[Name], are you alright?" Mukuro asked with concern and it was so long I did not hear his voice. 

"Y-yeah, I'm fine here."

He noticed the way I talked and he seemed to know the reason why.

"What's wrong? Did I disturb you for having some time with your boyfriend?"

"S-shut up!!"

* * *

I was approached by an apartment manager and she told me that there was a space available for Chrome. I thanked her and I went to school as quickly as possible to tell Chrome about it. Kyoko and Haru were walking with her and I saw her wearing a face mask, coughing a little.

"Chrome, are you alright?" I asked with worry and she simply waved at me, indicating that she was doing fine.

"It's just a cold, nothing much..." she answered weakly.

"Nothing much? Do you want me to take you to see the doctor?"

"N-no, it's fine. I'll be alright..."

She did not want to talk further and walked away, leaving me with Kyoko and Haru. I was planning to get some cold pills from the school infirmary later and I was taking out some of my books to be prepared for the first lesson.

I noticed that Tsuna and Enma were wearing the same watch at their wrists and both of them were giving their reluctant look. Gokudera and Yamamoto had their excited look on their face as if something might happen later on.

Were they going to get involved with another game or battle? I thought we were done with Daemon Spade and Byakuran months ago.

Kyoko then invited me and Chrome for a lunch at the small cafe and mentioned that Haru would be coming over. I would join them and Chrome politely rejected the invitation, saying that she had other things to do.

Was I the only one thinking that she had been avoiding everyone? What Reborn told me about her was true after all.

"Hahii, I thought she would come along," Haru said with disappointment.

"Maybe she doesn't want to infect us with her cold. I hope she's okay," added Kyoko.

"I hope she's okay. Otherwise, I would drag her to the hospital," I replied.

"[Name], have you ever wonder why she had been kicked out from Kokuyo Land?" asked Kyoko. "Is there something between Chrome and Mukuro?"

"Well...my brother didn't kick her out. I also wanted to get some explanation from him."

I was not ready to tell them that it was Chrome's problem. Even Mukuro had to stay away from her.

We were almost reaching the cafe when I heard a girl shouting through her phone. Kyoko and I recognized the voice and we saw Mizushima Risako shouting with anger. I prevented Kyoko and Haru from coming nearer so that we could hear what she was yelling about.

"You useless sh*t! Is it so hard to catch her with your hands?!"

_"We did try to catch her but she was accompanied by a boy that day and he took her to the amusement park! We lost them when we were at there-"_

"Stop giving excuses! Because both of you are good at boxing, I asked for your help to eliminate that b*tch!"

_"Risako, just give up already. No matter what you are trying to do, that Hibari Kyoya will not fall for you-"_

"Shut up! I had enough with her! If you didn't catch her again, then I'll do it myself! I thought killing her with a sandbag is enough but that baseball freak saved her life instead! At least I'm pretty satisfied when she got hurt after touching that wooden spindle I made for her!"

My eyes widened with shock. Even Kyoko and Haru gasped after learning the real truth.

The sandbag killer was Mizushima Risako all along. She wanted to kill me off because I was with Hibari. Her future self did the same to me when I was trapped in the future world.

I stepped out from the hiding spot and the girls followed me from behind. Mizushima Risako flinched when she heard a sound and her face went pale once she saw my appearance. 

"O-oh...it's you..." she gave a forced smile to me. "W-what are you doing here?"

"So, it was you all along," I said coldly. "You do hate me so much because I 'took' Kyoya from you. Am I right?"

"I-I didn't. I mean, I-I'm happy that both of you are together-"

"How is that happy when you are planning to kill me with the sandbag?" I interrupted. "Because of you, Yamamoto Takeshi got hurt for saving my life. You probably got angrier when you failed to kill me, so you sabotaged the wooden spindle before the school carnival started."

She tried to speak but no words were coming out from her mouth. 

"How could you do this to [Name]?!" Haru shouted at her. "If you do like Hibari so much, why can't you just talk to her instead of hurting her?!"

"That's right!" Kyoko added. "Your selfish act brings nothing but hurting even more people!"

"I...I...I hated it when he's with another girl..." she said with her shaken tone. "We made a promise that we would marry when we grow up. I...I even tell my parents to enrol me to this school so that I could see him..."

"He's not going to marry you, Mizushima Risako," I spoke out. "He never made that such promise with you."

"Don't say something you don't understand!" she yelled at me. "How the hell did you know that he did not want to marry me?!"

"Because you disrespect his parents. You and other people mocked him for having no parents."

Her eyes widened with disbelief and she nearly dropped her phone. She slowly gritted her teeth and she was glaring at me before she started to yell at me. 

"No, that's not true! M-my other cousins wanted me to say that to him and if I refused to do so, they'll ignore me!"

"You decided to insult Kyoya for the sake of your cousins? Try saying that to him."

"W-what?"

"I dare you to say that to him. I want to know who speaks the truth. You or him."

She did not say anything for a moment and I would not want to waste more time to talk to her. Since I knew who had been trying to kill me with a sandbag, I would tell it to Tsuna and others. I turned around and I told Kyoko and Haru to leave her alone. 

That was when I saw Kyoko's alarmed look at her face.

"What are you trying to do?!"

I glanced and that girl was taking out a bottle filled with an unknown substance. She was sobbing hard and she tried to pour it on her head.

I did not hesitate further as I grabbed her hand to stop her foolish act. The bottle cap was a little loose, causing some of the substance to drop and burn my hand. I flinched with pain but I did not let go of her hand.

"What the hell are you doing?!"

"If...if I can't live with him...then...what's even the point of living...?"

"All because of a guy you liked?? Is it worth to waste your life like that??"

"If it wasn't because of you, I wouldn't force myself to do this thing!"

I was staring intently at her and I was in deep thought. I did not want anyone to get hurt because of me. If I wanted to stop her from ending her life, then I had no choice. 

"...fine. I'll leave Kyoya."

Kyoko and Haru gasped with shock and her eyes seemed brightened a little. I released her hand and I walked away from her. 

"Y-you will? You would not regret it, right?"

"...I don't want someone else to die because of my selfishness. So, he's yours now."

* * *

I was absent from school for two days and I did not go to Hibari's house ever since that day. I had been staying at Haru's house to avoid anyone from looking for me. I told my parents that I would be staying at my friend's to do some revision.

Haru had been worrying about my state and she tried her best to cheer me up. I appreciated her effort but I could not feel happy at all. 

I felt like I was making a huge mistake. 

"[Name], are you sure you are doing the right thing?"

"...I don't know. I just...don't want her to continue hurting herself if I refused to leave Kyoya."

"She can't do that! You know that she forced you to make this decision!"

"At least I understand what Tsuna feels..." I said further, feeling the pain from my throat. "He had to fight against Mukuro because he felt guilty after seeing his friends got hurt."

"That's a completely different story, [Name]!" Haru interjected. "Tsuna fight for his friends and what did you do? You sacrificed your happiness for that girl who tried to kill you!"

"...Haru, I..."

"It's not too late to fix this mess," she took out her phone and she showed it to me. "I've recorded the proof that she is that sandbag killer. Tsuna and others will know what to do with her."

Before I could reply, my phone rang in sudden and I quickly answered it. 

"Hello? What's wrong, Kyoko?"

"[Name], you need to come back to your apartment. I tried to call out for Chrome but she didn't open her door. I...I feared something had happened to her."

"...I'm on my way. Hang in there."


	43. cloud

I reached the apartment and I asked for a spare key from the manager so that I could open the door to check on Chrome. Once I opened the door, I quickly went inside and I saw her lying on the couch with her pale face. Her condition worsened compared to the day she caught a cold.

"Chrome, are you alright??" I asked with worry and Kyoko was kneeling beside me to see her.

"...[Name], Kyoko...you're here..." Chrome spoke out weakly and gave a small smile.

"Your condition just got worse, I need to take you to see a doctor right now!"

"It's...no use...maybe this is...the end..."

"Chrome, don't say anything like that!" Kyoko nearly cried. "I'll try to call for help!"

I did not wait for anything and I went on to carry Chrome piggyback. She tried to resist but I did not let her go. Kyoko wanted to make sure that we were stable and leading us to the hospital. I could feel something hollow from Chrome's stomach and my heart did stop for a millisecond with dread.

She was losing her internal organs.

"Chrome, is there something wrong between you and Mukuro?"

"N...nothing...it's just..."

"Just what?"

"It's...hard to...say..."

"You reject his illusionary organs, right?"

"W...what? H-how-"

"He is finally free from prison. Which means he does not need to borrow your body as his vessel. Is that what you are thinking?"

"It's...it's not like that-"

"He has his own life and you have your own life. So you decided to take your path. But you hated the fact that you still need to depend on him. Moreover, some other people merely treated you like another Mukuro, not Chrome."

She was silent for a while and she was having breathing difficulty. I continued walking as fast as I could before it was too late to save her.

"What's your name?"

"H-huh?"

"Are you Rokudo Mukuro?

"... n-no. I...I'm..."

"Then, who are you?"

"...Chrome...Dokuro..."

"Then why are you taking such a long time to realize it?"

"R...realize?"

"Big brother is waiting for you. I hope you can find a true answer."

We reached the hospital in a nick of time as the nurses quickly placing Chrome on the bed. Kyoko and I followed until when we were not allowed to enter the emergency room.

As expected, the doctors told us that they could not find her internal organs and they had an urgent meeting to find ways of saving Chrome's life.

I sat on the chair and I buried my face with my hands, feeling frustrated. Kyoko came out from the ICU ward and she sat beside me, feeling worried.

"I can't believe that she would end up like this."

"Kyoko, how's Chrome?"

"She's still in critical condition and now she wants to look for Tsuna."

"How did you know that she wants to see him?"

"She...she keeps on calling boss."

"Oh...yeah. She did address him that way."

"What are you going to do now?"

"What do you mean?"

"Are you sure that you want to give up loving Hibari?"

"I...I did not want to give up-"

"Then you shouldn't tell that girl that you will leave him!"

"But, if I didn't do that, she will hurt herself-"

"There is another option to stop her from doing so but not making that kind of stake!"

"I just don't want more people to get hurt because of me!"

"[Name]..."

"Yamamoto got hurt while saving me during the rehearsal skit. I even fail to see Chrome's condition days ago. I...I feel so useless..."

We did not talk further and I heard Tsuna's voice in the hospital. I did not know why he was here but Kyoko stood up to find him, deciding to tell him about Chrome's condition. It was not the right time for him to see me here, so I left the hospital without any of them knowing.

Chrome probably had made her final decision and it might be the reason why she wanted to see Tsuna. I walked back to Haru's house and that was when I saw two people standing in front of me.

"Well, well...looks like you're finally alone."

"Now this saves us a lot of time to deal with you."

Those two guys were the ones who tried to catch me. Mizushima Risako wanted them to eliminate me so that she could be with Hibari. I admitted that I was scared since there was no one accompanying me this time.

Guess I had to fight against them.

"You're right. I'm tired of hiding from both of you. Let's end it now."

"You want to fight against us?" the first guy mocked while cracking his knuckles. "Do you know who we are?"

"I heard from that girl that both of you are good at boxing. She says as if both of you are the strongest ones in boxing."

"You can say that," the second guy said proudly. "We won every single boxing tournament and so far, no one could beat both of us."

"Really? Maybe both of you should try to challenge Sasagawa Ryohei," I added coldly. "Now, what are your relationship with Mizushima Risako?"

"We're just childhood friends," the first guy answered. "We were so close that everyone thinks she's our little sister. Though we kind of pretty tired of her saying she wants to marry her future husband."

"We told her it's not easy to marry that guy especially that his grandfather is the head of the clan," the second guy added. "Now she looked even angrier when she found out that he's with a plain girl like you."

"Plain...girl?"

"Let's not waste more time, shall we?"

The first guy was the first to make his move and he was fast. So fast that I nearly got hit by his punch. I quickly dodged and I took the rusty pipe from the rubbish bin to block his attack. He smirked and he constantly gave more blows and I had no chance to attack him. 

The second guy took the chance to sneak behind me and tried to punch me. I grew desperate and I used half of my strength to push and kick the first guy away from me before I swing the pipe straight to the second guy's head. 

His head was bleeding but he tried to ignore it. I did not give him a chance to attack as I continued hitting him with the pipe and once he stumbled on the ground, I struck him with my elbow and he howled with pain. 

I was preoccupied and the first guy already kicked me from behind. I nearly fell and he grabbed my arm, using his other hand to punch me repeatedly. I immediately took his hand and I twisted his wrist to prevent him from attacking. He flinched in pain and after I pushed him, I used my leg to strike at his neck.

"Boxing...champion?" I panted and I was in pain after all the blows. "What a huge joke. Even...senior Ryohei could do better than both of you..."

The two guys were unable to stand up as they were groaning with pain and I rubbed off some dust from my face. I was about to turn around when an unknown man caught me from behind and roughly covered my mouth to stop me from screaming.

Before I could react, he injected something at my neck and my mind went hazy. It took a few seconds for my eyes to close and I did not wake up ever since. 

* * *

_"...wake up, [Full Name]..."_

I never felt this such deep sleep and I did think of not waking up.

_"...wake up, hurry..."_

The voice was quite faint but it seemed desperate. Who could it be?

_"...[Full Name], you better wake up now..."_

The voice grew louder and my eyelid twitched once. Was it Hibari?

_"...if you don't wake up...I won't be able to help you..."_

I blinked my eyes hard and I tried to open it as wide as I could. My vision was still blurred but I could tell that I was in a dark place. I blinked my eyes several times and someone was sitting in front of me.

He was wearing a black trench coat and a pale hand reaching out for me. I lifted my head and I saw a man with short, spiky blond hair, matching his pair of ice-blue eyes. 

Whether I was dreaming or not, that man was Vongola Primo's Cloud guardian, Alaude. 

I placed my hand on my head, still feeling dizzy after I was injected with a sedative- 

I froze with horror. Was I being kidnapped by someone else? I was sure that I already have beaten those two guys. 

_"[Name], are you alright?"_

I was looking around the place I was staying before I stared at the First Cloud. Despite his emotionless look, I could tell that he was worried. 

"...w-where...am I...?"

_"I could not answer that as I am unsure for myself. All I know that you have been unconscious for many days."_

I began to feel afraid. Tears started to flow out of my eyes. The same feeling when I was in the Estraneo Famiglia's laboratory. This time, Mukuro was not around to help me.

"D-days...? N-no one knows...where am I?"

The First Cloud knew that I was scared. Placing his half-invisible hand on my shoulder was the only thing he could do to calm me down. I did not flinch when he did that. It made me feel safer for temporary.

_"Your kidnapper locked you up to a place where no one could ever reach here. I feared that he might plan to do something bad to you. That is why I have to wake you up."_

"...I...I want to...get out from here..."

_"You need to stay calm. Escaping when you are your current state does not help you at all."_

"And waiting for the right time to die? No, not at this place-"

_"[Full Name]!"_

I was stunned once I heard his stern tone. I went quiet and I lowered my head, refusing to look at him. 

_"I'm sorry for raising my voice but I have to do it. Once you stay calm, I'll try my best to help you get out of here."_

I wiped off the tears and I tried to take a few deep breaths. The eerie environment did not help much. Only the First Cloud's presence could keep me sane. 

_"Feeling better?"_

"...not really...but better than before."

_"Do you have any idea why you have been kidnapped?"_

"I...I don't know. I could not see who was the one kidnapped me. He injected me with a heavy sedative and I passed out. That was after I've beaten those guy who tried to eliminate me."

_"Eliminate you?"_

"There's a girl who had a huge crush towards Kyoya. She found out that he had been going out with me and she was angered. So she sent those guys to deal with me. And also, she tried to kill me during the skit. Even her future self hated me so much."

_"...what a coincidence."_

"...I beg your pardon?"

_"Nothing."_

"Strange. How come you are here?"

_"What do you mean by that?"_

"I mean, you rarely appear. The last time I saw you was when you came out from Kyoya's Cloud ring during Byakuran and Tsuna's fight in the future world."

_"I do find it strange as well. Do you have anything that might belong to me?"_

I took some time to think and I was sure that I did not take Hibari's Cloud ring- no, his Cloud bracelet as it was the only thing I could hear his voice.

Then, I suddenly remembered the gold pocket watch. I took it out of my pocket and I showed it to him.

He had the same expression with Hibari when I gave the gold pocket watch to him that night.

_"That is my...pocket watch. Where did you get it?"_

"Uh, Daemon Spade gave it to me months ago."

_"That illusionist? How come he has it?"_

"Well...didn't you say that you don't want to keep it because it brings nothing but pain?"

_"I didn't say that. And I don't give it to Daemon Spade."_

"You gave it to who?"

_"I gave it to my son, Raniero."_


	44. flee

"You are saying that...you gave this pocket watch to your son named Raniero?"

_"Yes, I gave it to him as a good luck charm."_

"Good luck charm?" I gave my curious look at him.

_"Why? Does it sounds strange to you?"_

"No, not at all. I'm surprised that you ended up giving it to your son. Daemon Spade did not tell me who was the one passed it to him and I thought it was you."

_"I never thought my son would give it to that illusionist. Since when did they meet?"_

"I don't know. All I know that the pocket watch brings nothing but pain. That should be your son's last words to Daemon Spade."

_"Is it because...his parent's death gave him a huge impact?"_

"As in...you and your wife's death?"

The First Cloud nodded once. There was a regret look on his face.

_"The day before his trip, my son and I were arguing and I admit, it was quite serious. He said that he had to go to Italy for urgent business. That was when the influenza pandemic started to infect almost everyone who lives in that country."_

"...did you stop him?"

_"I tried but he wouldn't listen. He's not even listening to his mother's advice and he just went off. I never knew he was as stubborn as I was and I did not bother to know if he was safe or not. Until the day when Philippe came to us and told us that he was one of the victims of the influenza pandemic."_

"So, the three of you immediately went to Italy to see your dying son. But the train crash happened and both of you died."

_"...yes."_

"It's already long ago and I think you should have seen your son around, right?"

_"I want to admit that you are right but the problem is, I didn't see him around."_

"Huh?"

_"Something must have happened to him. He could not move on."_

"What the-"

He suddenly narrowed his eyes and glanced behind him. From his expression, I knew something was not right.

I heard the sound of a chainsaw from outside the room I was staying. My hands went cold and I was shivering with fear. I was looking around to look for something to defend myself but there was nothing I could find.

_"You have no choice, [Name]. You have to fight."_

"I-I can't fight without any weapons! Someone outside is using a chainsaw!"

_"This is their exact purpose. They would not let you use any weapons to make their things easier to do."_

"Then just kill me off already! If that's what they want!"

_"Think of your family and friends, [Name]. Think about them."_

I stopped talking for a moment and I immediately thought of people who were important to me.

My adoptive parents, Tsuna, Yamamoto, Gokudera, Kyoko, Haru, Chrome, Lambo, senior Ryohei, Mukuro. And lastly, Hibari.

Thinking of them was enough to make me wanted to see them badly.

"I...I want to go back...to them...right now..."

_"Then fight it. Prove to them that you are not as weak as they thought."_

The door burst open and a tall male was wearing a mask to cover his identity. His hands were carrying a chainsaw and he was ready to slice me off. I stood back and I was getting ready to fight and avoid his possible attacks.

He ran towards me and swing his chainsaw above him, looking for the best angle to slice off my arm. I frowned, trying to figure out to escape from his sudden attack. He was a few inches away from me and I dodged, kicking at one of his knees so that he could fall on the ground. Once the chainsaw dropped on the ground, I quickly picked it up and I hit his head with all my strength to make him unconscious.

"Impressive..."

I flinched and I turned around to see another man with scars on his face. His smirk was so wide that it could almost reach his ears and he was walking towards me. I could not escape as I was already near the corner of the wall.

When he was coming nearer, I realised that he was the mad researcher who experimented me last time.

"What's wrong? Don't you want to fight against me?"

I could not speak. My heart was beating too fast and I could not even breathe properly. When he was about to touch my face, I quickly slapped his hand away from me.

"How rude. I merely want to see if you are doing fine or not."

He grabbed my wrist and slammed it against the wall, much to my horror. His grip was strong and I could not move it away.

"I send this assistant of mine to at least give you a little scratch. I would love to see your special ability of yours."

"S-special...ability?" I stuttered. "You mean...healing ability...?"

"That's right. But first, let's talk, shall we?"

I shook my head hard and I tried so hard to release my wrist from his grip. He chuckled darkly and slowly tightened his grip.

"You poor little soul. You lost your mother right after you were born, leaving your father to raise you all by himself. He did his best to be a good father until one day, he was burdened with a heavy debt."

"H-heavy debt?"

"So heavy that he could not afford to take care of you. I happened to bump into him and he had been begging to get some cash to clear off his debt. I decided to help him and I told him that if he could sell you to me for my business purposes. And, he did. He did not think twice and he sold his daughter to me."

My eyes widened with shock. I did not want to believe it but hearing my father sold me to the mafia family broke my heart.

"He gave you a false promise that he will bring you home one day. I eventually brought you along to Italy and placing you with other unfortunate children in the Estraneo Famiglia's laboratory. You were still clueless about what had happened and you kept on remembering the false promise your father had made. Everything was fine until the day you met a boy named Rokudo Mukuro. He was supposed to be isolated from other children so that we could keep him corrupted during the experiment. You found him and you spent most of your time staying by his side. He grew happier but not for me."

"...n-not for...you??"

"Your presence will ruin his current state and I had to do something. I forcefully brought you to another lab and experimented on you. Seeing your scared and despair look gave me satisfaction. You were screaming in pain and you begging me to let you go."

The dark memories began to appear in my mind and I started to cry.

"...s-stop...don't..."

"I have nearly completed the process when Rokudo Mukuro burst the door open and he was enraged. Before any of us could do anything, he already murdered everyone in the lab. I was severely injured but I managed to survive. I weakly watched him carrying you out from the place with his other two friends. I tried my best to track the four of you until I recently heard that he and his two friends broke out from the prison to look for the Vongola's new boss. I went to Japan and it seems that luck is at my side."

"W...what do you mean...?"

"I was at the Kokuyo Land and I happened to see you talking to Mukuro. I highly assumed that you were the one and I had decided to capture you. However, you were heavily protected by the Vongola Famiglia and I had to find a way to separate you from them. That is when a girl came to me and she was eager to help me with my plan."

"Who could it be- n-no...it was Mizushima Risako all along...??"

"Correct," he grinned darkly. "I was the one suggested her lots of things she could do to separate both you and Hibari Kyoya. You name it. Sandbag, wooden spindle, and even spreading a rumour that you are going out for a date with Yamamoto Takeshi."

"W-why would you-!" I yelled with rage. "Because of you, Yamamoto nearly got killed! Even worse, both him and Kyoya got into a fight! You b*st*rd!"

He frowned with displeasure and he harshly slapped across my cheek. It was stinging pain and I could taste blood from my bruised lips.

"I do not want to waste more time," he took out a syringe filled with an unknown substance and removing the cover. "Just one shot of this medicine and I will get to see the real result of the previous experiment I've done on you."

"...let me go."

"No, I won't."

"...let me go!!!"

Moments later, several sticks of dynamite were thrown through the room's small window and it exploded from above. The mad researcher was stunned with shock, abruptly releasing his grip from my wrist. My knees fell on the ground and I crawled away from him. At the door, I saw the First Cloud signalling me to leave the room fast.

_"Hurry!"_

I stood up and I ran out of the room. The researcher was screaming with rage and he was chasing me from behind.

_"Keep on running, don't let him catch you!"_

I soon realised that I was in an abandoned factory when I saw many old plastic barrels, long bamboo sticks, wood planks and others. My legs nearly cramped but I did not stop. I had to push barrels and bamboo sticks aside to block his way for temporary.

At the same time, I dropped the gold pocket watch and I wanted to pick it up.

_"Forget about that watch, just keep on running!"_

"B-but-"

_"Run!!"_

I did run and I was reluctant. The researcher was almost close to catching me and his boots crushed the pocket watch into pieces. I gasped with shock and I did not see the First Cloud around.

"A-Alaude? Where are you??"

There was no voice from him. Was he gone?

"You won't run away from me!"

I lost my footing and I tripped on the ground. The researcher smirked and he took out a knife to stab at one of my legs. I screamed with pain and he managed to pin me down to avoid me from escaping.

"You won't have to suffer like this if you don't run away. Now, for the final stage..."

I had enough. I wanted to give up-

"Don't close your eyes yet, [Name]."

Hibari sped towards the researcher and he hit the syringe away from his hands. He froze with shock to see the skylark's presence and I could see his face.

The sharp glare from his eyes and the dangerous smirk on his face was enough to tell that he was angry.

"If this is how you hurt her, then I'll make it triple, for you."

The researcher was about to talk when someone else stabbed him from the back. He coughed out blood and he saw a trident going through his stomach.

"You dare to come back here. Looks like you are looking for death."

Mukuro had the same angry look as Hibari but he was scarier. Ken and Chikusa once told me that his angry face was pretty frightening because all the time, I often saw him smirking.

The researcher lost lots of blood and he went unconscious. Mukuro knelt and he was checking my condition. Hibari was gripping my hand tightly and wishing that I would stay awake.

"She won't die. She just loses a lot of blood."

"I know that. She looks even worse than her injury."

"Her mind already shattered due to trauma. The researcher must have pushed her to the limit."

"You can fix it, right?"

"I can but for now, she needs to be treated."

I heard other voices coming into the factory and I saw Tsuna with his friends coming towards us. I was happy to see all of them but at the same time, I felt sad.

I could no longer see the First Cloud again.


	45. cease

"Oh, I didn't know that [Name] has a visitor."

"Good morning. I assumed that both of you are her parents, right?"

"Yeah, and you are...?"

"I'm her long lost brother, Rokudo Mukuro."

"Brother?? We didn't know she has another sibling."

"We are not related by blood but we grew up together in an orphanage. So I considered her as my little sister. I was the one left her with both of you at the airport when she was young. I was praying hard that both of you will adopt her as your child."

"We did, we always wanted to have a child of our own but fate is not on our side. We decided to welcome her as a part of a family."

"But still, why would you want to leave her? Why not take her with you?"

"It's...complicated. I had no choice and I do not want her to get involved with something. I want to thank both of you for taking care of her for all these years."

"Oh, no need for that, young man. We are the ones want to thank you and your friends for saving our daughter's life. We have been worried when she had been missing for many days."

"I would have been worried too if I were both of you. Your daughter's kidnapper has been caught by the police and he will be severely punished for his unforgivable crime."

"I'm glad to hear that. By the way, my wife and I need to see the doctor for a while. Would it be alright if you could stay here until she wakes up?"

"I will. Please take your time."

I heard my parents' footsteps fading away from the door. I have been listening to their conversation with Mukuro when both of my eyelids began to twitch. I felt oddly tired after I was rescued by Tsuna and his friends. One of my legs were covered with a thick bandage and I instantly remembered that my leg was being stabbed.

"Your parents already left the room. You may wake up now."

I slowly blinked my eyes and I turned to look at the illusionist. His face was calm and his hand reached out to touch my forehead. 

"Looks like you are getting better than before, [Name]."

"Big brother...may I ask you something?"

"What do you want to ask?"

"Is it true that...my real father sold me to the mafia family?"

"That madman told you about it?"

"Is it...true?"

"I'm afraid it's true, [Name]."

"Why you didn't tell me-"

"If I tell you, what are you going to do? Finding your real father? Parents selling away their children is an unforgivable act."

"...I can't believe...he did this..."

"I do not want you to remember all the traumatising incidents, that is why I blocked some part of your memory before I left you with your adoptive parents in the airport."

"...no wonder I can't remember my dark past."

"It's for your good," Mukuro sighed. "I can't believe that the madman survived from the massacre. I knew something was not right when you did not return home after sending Nagi to the hospital."

"Chrome? I-is she-"

"Calm down, [Name]. She's doing fine. She found her true resolve and she's able to recreate her missing organs with her powers."

"...Is that so? I...I'm glad to hear that."

"You're still recovering, so don't push yourself. At least talk with your parents. They've been worried since the day you went missing."

"I...I'm going to apologise to them. And to you, Tsuna and others-"

"No. Just stop apologising for everything. No one was expecting this to happen."

"But, big brother-"

"[Name], that's enough."

Mukuro's stern tone did make me go silent. I slowly covered my face with a blanket and I did not feel like looking at anyone. He placed his hand on my head and caressing my hair. 

"The Vindice might be coming to question you about the mad researcher. I'll come back here again to accompany you in case you feel uncomfortable with their presence." 

"...okay. I...I want you to stay anyway..."

He chuckled lightly and he pinched my nose.

"You needy little sister."

* * *

_"Don't blame yourself. No one is expecting this to happen."_

I saw the man with a beret hat talking to the First Cloud. The weather there was gloomy and I could feel that it was not good news. 

_"I stopped caring about him when he left the house that day. I should have tried to stop him."_

_"I do wonder why he wants to go to Italy urgently when the pandemic hits that country. I disagree with what he was doing but now he's dying."_

_"Dying?"_

_"The pandemic kills lots of people, Alaude! If you didn't go and see him, you will regret for the rest of your life! He's your only child, you and your wife's treasured child!"_

The man with beret hat sighed loudly and rubbed his temple repeatedly. 

_"Knuckle was planning to come over to your house to knock your senses out but he had other things to do. So he wants me to do it for him. I do believe that Raniero wants to see his parents before he...go away."_

_"Even after I said something that hurt his feelings?"_

_"I'm his godfather and I knew him better as you and your wife do. He just wants to apologise to both of you."_

He was waiting for the First Cloud's next move. After thinking for some time, he stood up and started to pack his travelling documents.

_"Phillipe, please book some train tickets to Italy. I'll quickly inform her about Raniero."_

Both of them left the room in a hurry and I followed them from behind. Once I opened the door, my eyes opened and I found that I was still on the hospital bed. I felt like someone was grasping my hand and I saw Hibari was sleeping beside my bed with some of his pet yellow bird-

Wait, why there were two or three of them? I was sure that I did not feel dizzy. The birds lifted their heads and they were looking at me. I did tell them to not making any noise because I did not want to wake him up for a moment. 

Without warning, the three Hibirds starting to sing the school song at the same time. 

"N-not now! You're disturbing his sleep-!"

His eyelids twitched and he felt a little annoyed. My face went a little pale, realising that I was the one who woke him up after I yelled at the yellow birds. 

"You finally wake up, [Name]?"

"Uh...yeah..." I smiled nervously. "If I ruined your sleeping mood, I'm sorry..."

"Forget that. Did you decide to leave me?"

"What? How did you-"

"[Name], answer my question."

"...no. I...I honestly did not want to leave you but I have no choice-"

"You do have a choice. You could have just ignored what stupid things she's going to do. Because that's her problem, not yours."

"Even if she wanted to...hurt herself?"

"I made it clear that I would not marry someone who disrespects my parents. I told her that I will not stay by her side if I could not find someone else to marry."

"...you said that...to Mizushima?"

"Miura Haru came to see me in the Disciplinary Office and showed me the proof that Mizushima Risako was the one tried to kill you with a sandbag. Because of her involvement with your kidnapper, I had her expelled from Namimori Middle school without any warning."

"...I'm sorry, Kyoya. My mistake of making a difficult choice, causing you and others to go through the trouble to look for me."

"...I accept your apology but you still need to accept punishment from me after you've discharged."

"H-huh? What punishment??"

He did not explain further and he stood up, leaned to place a firm kiss on my lips. I flinched with surprise before I took my time to respond. He broke the kiss and whispered to me while gripping my hand tightly. 

"Don't ever leave me, [Name]."

I nearly cried and I went on to hug him as tight as possible. I was scared when I was kidnapped by the mad researcher and I realised that I wanted him to stay by my side for the rest of my life. 

"I...I won't leave you. I won't."

* * *

Aside from the serious injuries I suffered, my parents told me that I lost lots of blood. I had to stay in the hospital for another few days to recover my energy. I had to rely on my Cloud Flames to quicken the blood clotting process. 

Kyoko, Haru, Hana and Chrome were coming to visit and they were worried after I was kidnapped days ago. They were shocked to learn that Mizushima Risako was the one tried to kill me during the skit and also working together with my kidnapper. Chrome knew that the mad researcher was from the Estraneo Famiglia but she did not say anything to them. The researcher was finally being taken to the Vindice's prison. 

"[Name], I had been worried when you just disappeared from the hospital, Kyoko explained. "I thought that you would return to Haru's house but she told me that you weren't there either."

"And as foolish as I am, I guessed that you returned to your apartment until Chrome told us that you did not come home," said Haru. "Your parents had been asking her if she had seen you before they made a report to the police."

"I...I was being told that I was in the abandoned factory, further away from Namimori," I answered. "No wonder people can't find the exact location."

"Surprisingly, Sawada was the one knew where you've been taken," Hana commented.

"T-Tsuna knows?" I blinked. "I mean, how?"

"Well, he admitted that he didn't know but he said that he had the feeling that you might be at there. I told him that he needs proof but his friends supported his statement and they went off to find you."

"We waited for the good news and you were later taken to the hospital for further treatment," Kyoko added.

"...I want to thank him."

"Hey, [Name]. The next time if someone wants you to break up with Hibari, don't ever hesitate," Hana gave her disapproved look. "That kind of people is not worth your time."

"Oh...okay," I gave an apologetic smile. "Sorry. I'll remember that..."

We did talk for a while until Tsuna came into my room. He was relieved to see me safe and he requested the girls that he wanted to talk to me. Hana was curious but the other girls understood before they went out to get some drinks. Tsuna took a seat beside my bed and he smiled at me.

"[Name], you feeling better?"

"Better than usual. I want to leave this hospital already."

"As long as the doctors confirmed that your health is in stable mode, then you are free to leave."

"Hey, Tsuna."

"Yes?"

"Thank you so much for coming to save me. You...you're such a good friend."

"Ah, I..." he flattered. "It's fine, but...I'm sorry for taking a long time to save you."

"What do you mean?"

"For the past few days after Chrome being transferred to Namimori Middle, I was involved in a battle with my friends. I refused to fight but after I heard the truth, I need to save Reborn and the other Arcobalenos from dying due to their curse. This might sound selfish but I didn't ignore you. I...I prayed hard that you will stay safe while saving Reborn-"

"It's fine," I quickly interrupted. "I won't blame you. As long as I am safe, then it's fine. Though I'm confused because you keep on saying that you wanted to save Reborn."

"Oh, I promise I'll tell you more about it once you've discharged. I come here for another reason."

"Another reason?"

Tsuna placed his hand in his pocket and he took out a kitchen mitten. He shook it twice and a gold pocket watch fell out to his hand. My eyes widened with shock. I completely forgot about the pocket watch and it was almost destroyed by the mad researcher.

"T-that pocket watch...was it..."

"I picked it up on the factory's floor. The cover is a little dented and the glass is broken. You mentioned before that you could not open it, right?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Since your kidnapper stepped on it with his boots, the dented cover was opened and I found this."

He passed the pocket watch to me and I gently opened its cover. A small old fashioned badge dropped out from the pocket watch and it was a symbol of an azalea flower. 

"Azalea flower? What does it mean?"

"I've been wondering about that too. Maybe we could find some answers from someone who had known Vongola Primo in the past."

"But that was centuries ago."

"I'll take you to see them once you leave the hospital."


	46. forward (final chapter)

I wanted to get more answers regarding the memories of my previous life and the strange badge I got from the pocket watch. After I was discharged from the hospital, I asked for my parents' permission to go out with Tsuna for a school project. They were not convinced as they insisted that I still need to get some rest. Tsuna promised to them that he would bring me home once we were done. 

He was relieved that the person we were looking for was still in Japan and I grew anxious to see who it was. To shorten the time, he carried me and flew to a traditional house that was located far from the town. 

"Good day, uncle Talbot! I'm here to see you!"

It was quiet for a while before a wheezing voice echoed through the door.

"Hello, Vongola descendant. Looks like you come just in time before I depart to my next destination."

"I'm sorry but it's urgent. I brought someone along because she wants to find some answers."

"Well, come in."

Tsuna slides the door open and we bowed at an elderly man who was sitting in the living room. I could tell that his age was evident in his physical appearance and he had a black cloth covering over his eyes. He was wearing a simple, tattered robe and a necklace made of claw-like ornaments. 

"[Name], this is uncle Talbot. He is a metal craftsman and he was working with the Vongola since Primo's time."

"P-Primo's time??" I blinked with confusion. "I mean, he lived that long??"

"I know you won't believe it but it's true. He is the one who offered to fix the damaged Vongola rings after my first fight against the Shimon Famiglia."

The elderly man chuckled lightly and we turned to look at him. 

"This girl's aura is the same as the First Cloud's wife. It seems that I know why she is here."

"What? How did you know?"

"Of course I know, young lady. I met her several times whenever I came to visit Primo. She was such a brave and lovely lady," Talbot gave a sad, small sigh. "Unfortunately, the train crash eventually took both her and her husband's life."

"Yes, I've seen it from my dreams. Most of the dreams I had were the memories of my previous life."

"Memories of your previous life? Interesting. Do you have something to show me?"

I nodded once and I took out the gold pocket watch before I handed it to his hands. He gently touched the pocket watch thoroughly and he hummed. 

"It's been so long. I remember that feeling when I made these pocket watches for Vongola Primo and his friends. This watch indeed belongs to the First Cloud though he had passed it to his son."

"Huh? You know about his son??" Tsuna asked with his bewildered look.

"Yes. A young boy with the looks from his father and his mother. His guilt was so deep that he could not forgive himself after the death of his parents. This pocket watch was his treasured possession until the day he gave it to the First Mist."

"Oh, Daemon Spade told me that months ago," I added. "He said that he doesn't want to keep it because it brings nothing but pain."

"So it seems. I could have guessed that he was trying to find who was the one killed his parents in the train crash."

"H-he wanted to find out his parents' killer?" my face grew pale.

"What's the matter, [Name]?" Tsuna asked worriedly.

"There was a dream where I saw Alaude confronted the person who tried to sabotage the train. I could not see who it was but he had a deep grudge towards him and his wife," I explained. "The worst part, he told me that his son could not move on."

"Move on? What does it mean?"

"The answer lies in this small little clue," Talbot held out the mysterious badge from the pocket watch. "There is a reason why his son gave the pocket watch to Daemon Spade."

"Is it because he was hoping for Daemon to find the killer?" Tsuna asked.

"True, but he was pretty busy with his scheme and gave a little attention to this important detail."

Talbot returned the pocket watch and the badge to me and I was staring at it for a few seconds. I began to understand why my future self was engrossed with the train crash incident. 

"Thank you so much, uncle Talbot," I bowed at him. "I think I know what to do next."

"You're welcome, young lady. I wish you all the best."

* * *

Things slowly to change after we entered our final year at Namimori Middle school. 

Tsuna was no longer the useless student that everyone knew. His grades were improving a lot, better than the last two years and he was more active in sports. The brunet improved a lot after Reborn had trained him to become the Neo Vongola Primo, as ordered by Vongola Nono. His changes eventually made more girls fall for him.

Yamamoto seemed to be able to focus on his studies although he had been participating in many baseball tournaments, which gave the school a great name due to his achievements. Gokudera easily passed all his exams, making him the school's top student of the year.

Whether we did well or not, we would leave it until the day the results were released. We spent about an hour standing in the school gymnasium for our graduation ceremony. The students in our year were cheering and some of them were crying because it was our final year in middle school and they were probably will be entering in different high schools.

"What a tiring day," Tsuna sighed with relief. "I bet Reborn would be waiting for the results to come out."

"He's your tutor, that is why he is wondering if you did well or not," I snickered.

"All I know that I would be welcomed with kicks and punches."

"Hey, chill out," Yamamoto grinned. "It's our end of the school year, we should celebrate together."

"As if we are going to do it," Gokudera mumbled.

"We really should," Kyoko stated with interest. "Haru would be happy since she is also graduating this year."

"Great, we should invite Chrome too. Let's give her some stress relief since she studied hard as well," I suggested and I heard a voice from nowhere.

"In that case," Reborn jumped out from the school bushes and there was a smirk on his face. "We should at least make a reunion party."

I heard about the Arcobaleno's history from Tsuna and because of his help, the current Arcobalenos were freed from their curse and the Checker Face will no longer look for more people to turn them into the next Arcobaleno. 

Reborn was able to grow up gradually and he looked like he was only five years old, the same age as Lambo. Speaking of that, Lambo was about to start his elementary school year.

"Reunion party?" the brunet eyed at his tutor curiously.

"Yes, Tsuna. You should invite your Sun Guardian, Cloud Guardian and your allied families."

"Huh??" Tsuna exclaimed with shock. "I'm completely fine with big brother, Enma and his friends, but seriously, you want me to invite Hibari-san?!"

"Why not? He's your guardian, right?"

"He hates crowd, Reborn! It's the only thing that doesn't change!"

"I'm pretty sure that he will come if his girlfriend is coming with you."

"Even so, I don't think I should bother her."

"I see," the former Arcobaleno stared at me. "[Name], would it be alright if you can ask him to join the reunion gathering?"

"I'll try asking him," I took out my phone and started to send a message to Hibari. It only took a few seconds to get his fast reply.

"So, what did he say?" asked Tsuna nervously.

"Kyoya is coming too. Quite surprising, right?" I grinned at him.

"I can't believe that he's coming too. But I think he would rather stay away from the crowd."

Reborn soon telling all of us to head back to Tsuna's house for the gathering. I was about to follow as well when I noticed a small yellow bird sitting on top of the school gate. I saw a roll of paper attached at Hibird's leg and I gently took it out to read the written message on it.

_Play a game with me, [Name]. Find the next message. Clue: the place where you first met me at the school._

I raised my eyebrow and I knew who would set this kind of game in sudden. I quickly tell others that I would come later before I wander around the school area.

Where was the place I first met him? I thought of Kokuyo Land but he said only in this school area. My eyes widened as I knew the answer and that place was the one I could not forget for the rest of my life. 

I ran straight to the large, bushy tree and I saw another Hibird sitting on the branch above me. I laughed nervously when I saw the large tree. It was the spot where I climbed and I fell straight onto Hibari, which made me accidentally kissed him at the same time. 

The yellow bird flew down and it allowed me to take the small paper at its leg.

_Well done. I supposed that you remember this place so well. Now keep on finding the next one. Clue: the place where I dealt with the lunch box thieves._

My curiosity grew stronger. It seemed that he was placing all the possible clues around the school area and he was going to save the last one as a surprise. I remember the next place he described; the Boxing Club's room. I walked at that place and there was another sleeping yellow bird at the room's window. I took out another small paper and I read it out.

_Looks like it's getting easier for you. Next message. Clue: imagine them as your enemies._

This should be at the school gymnasium where I was supposed to be the host for the school opening anniversary. 

_You are getting much closer. Keep on finding the next one. Clue: you dropped your phone there by accident._

I did not hesitate further and I went to the swimming pool. I laughed with amusement when I saw another Hibird sitting on the inflatable cushion that was floating on the swimming pool. I knelt and tried to get it back to the pool's surface, thinking that it was cute. It was lucky that the paper did not get wet as I carried the bird carefully before reading the given message.

_How is that? The next one is the last. However, you must choose wisely. Clue: my favourite place._

Choose wisely? His favourite place? I gritted my teeth and I was trying to choose which place could it be. The rooftop or the Disciplinary Office? It took me about five minutes to figure it out until I let my instinct to decide for me. I kept on walking until I reached the destination. I opened the office's door. The room was pitch dark and I was about to switch the lights on.

"Don't move."

"Huh? But I-"

"I said, don't move. Hold your hand out."

I felt like I was arrested for the crime as I held out my hand. I flinched when someone touched my hand and I felt something circular at my wrist. The lights switched on and I saw the skylark standing in front of me. I was blushing and I looked back at the thin ornate bracelet that was worn around my wrist.

"Do you like it?" he asked.

"I...I do, but why do you give it to me?" I asked with my puzzled look.

"Well, the surprise is worth it after all," Hibari smirked. "Have you ever wondered why I would agree to join the gathering?"

"I thought you would come along after I asked you."

"I am coming because it's your birthday, [Name]."

"Huh??" I blinked confusedly. "T-today is my birthday?? So that means..."

"Exactly, they are getting ready to celebrate your birthday. It's been arranged the day before your entrance exam months ago."

I was speechless as soon as I heard about the surprising arrangement. I forgot my birthday and I failed to realise that they had been secretly coming up with this plan after the graduation ceremony.

I felt nothing but grateful to have them as my good friends.

"Ready to go?"

"Um, until you give me something as a gift."

"Didn't you have one already?"

"I know that," I muttered shyly. "You should at least give me a birthday kiss."

"Not a chance."

"What the-"

"I'm saving that after the party. I do not want to be interrupted."

He took my hand and we left the school area. We were walking to Tsuna's house but he was taking his time to walk at a slow speed as he wanted to enjoy the moment with only both of us. I smiled and I held his hand tightly, walking together.

My parents made the right choice to move into Namimori. It was the place filled with all my treasured memories with the skylark, my family and my friends.


	47. Sequel: Rossignol

Being an adult has been tough for her after graduating from school for many years. Especially when she is officially a part of the Hibari Clan.

She soon begins to understand the mysterious memories in her mind and trying her best to solve the mystery without knowing the danger that will come to her.

_Past is past. I only belong in my own time. The only thing I could do for them is to help them solve a mystery._


End file.
